"But I—"
"Never mind all that now," Venus said, with just a hint of impatience. "Rise, William Forrester—or you who were William Forrester."
Forrester rose. Sweat was pouring down his face. He made no effort to wipe it away. "Were?" he asked, dazed. "But that's my name!"
"It was," Venus said, in the same calm tone. "Henceforth, your name is Dionysus."
Forrester took a while to remember to swallow. "Dionysus?" he said at last.
There was another silence.
Forrester, feeling that perhaps his first question could use some amplification, said: "Dionysus? Bacchus? You mean me?"
"Quite right," Venus said. "That will be your name, and you'd better begin getting used to it."
"Now wait a minute!" he said. "I don't mean to be disrespectful, but something occurs to me. I mean, it's the first thing I thought of, and I'm probably wrong, but just let me ask the questions, if you don't mind, and maybe some of this will make some sense. Because just a few hours ago I was doing very nicely on my own and I—"
"What are your questions?" Venus said.