I heartily
forgave him, told him to forget all that, that I forgot it all and, on my
side, begged his forgiveness for his agonies. He said there was nothing to
forgive: that my uncle's injunctions had compelled my leaving him a slave
and the rest had been his fault, not mine.
I told him that I would do anything in my power to make him well,
comfortable and happy, except setting him free, from which I was
restrained by my uncle's behests.
He asked to be allowed to return to Villa Andivia as soon as the
physicians pronounced him fit to travel.
I agreed: commanded that my travelling carriage, which Marcus Martius had
returned to me, should be put in order and prepared for the journey; and
consulted Galen, who came of his own accord to see Agathemer two days in
succession. On his third visit he gave Agathemer permission to travel by
carriage the next day and he accordingly set off for Villa Andivia on the
Ides of August.
Each day I had spent most of my afternoon at the Baths of Titus. Each
afternoon I had seen Vedia at a distance, but she had always taken pains
to avoid me, and one cannot pursue or seem to pursue, a lady in the
Thermae.
Each day, also, I had called to see her at her house; each day I had been
rebuffed.
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