'I believe so. I understand he arrived two days since.'
'I will go and see him shortly.'
A day or two had flown, and Varro was at the studio of Chios.
'Well, my friend,' said the Proconsul, 'how has the time passed with thee since I deserted Ephesus? Hast seen yet the charming Ionian girl who is to smite thy heart like the sharpened beak of a war bireme when it sends its prow into the soft pinewood sides of an enemy's ship? No? Well, I am sorry for thee, Chios. Thou deservedst a better fate. Nika told me of thy wanderings to Delos. Didst thou have pleasure in that lovely isle?'
'I enjoyed it immensely, and learned many quaint stories of the place. I saw the Temple and the rock-cleft chasm through which the priestesses derived inspiration. I heard the story of Myrtile, that she was beautiful and wise as she was lovely; how she broke her vows, and suffered death as a punishment for her crime.'
'How sad those stories are, Chios!'
'Yes, very, but the earth is full of such. Where dost thou spend this evening?'
'Now, Chios, I am going to confide in thee. Guess what it is!'
'I cannot.'