"'Do you often come here with your mistress?' she asked. 'You seem always with her.'
"'When we were children,' the boy said, 'we often stole out here in the summer-time to bathe in the cool water. But we do not bathe here now.'
"'Why not?' his companion asked.
"The boy looked up into her face with a comical, innocent expression. 'I do not quite know,' he said. 'She is too old to bathe now, except in the bath; only slave girls bathe out of doors when they are grown up.'
"'So you think it does not matter what we do?' she said.
"'You are different from the others,' he answered. 'You wear a tunic, and not an ordinary dress.'
"'You call this a tunic, do you?' she said, pointing to the thin garment which partially concealed the full sensuous beauty of her limbs. 'This is not much of a robe, this summer thing. I might almost as well be without it.'
"'Do you feel cold?' he asked.
"'Feel me,' she said.
"The boy placed his hand upon her bare neck as she moved closer to him. 'You are quite hot,' he said, 'your skin almost burns me. But how soft and smooth it is! Tell me, why are women so much more beautiful than men?'