When she entered the alabarch's presiding-room, Classicus arose from a seat beside a cluster of lamps and came toward her.
"Thy servant at the door tells me that thy father is not in," he said. "I came to speak with him of thee: but perchance it is better that I tell thee that which I have to tell, before any other."
Lydia sat down on the divan, and Classicus sat beside her.
"I come to submit to thy scorn or thy pity," he said, "either of which I deserve!"
"What hast thou done?" she asked, feeling a vague sense of fear.
"I have been Flaccus' fool!" he vowed.
Lydia's eyes grew troubled.
"What didst thou for him?" she asked in a lowered tone.
"I permitted him to catch me up in the city and rush me to Rome with a memorial to Cæsar, beseeching the emperor's aid in seeking the Lady Cypros, who had been abducted."
Lydia's level brows dropped.