They went to the great triclinium, beautiful, calm, like white gods, in their togas.

It seemed to Lygia, when she saw those two known and friendly faces among strange people, and especially when she saw Vinicius, that a great weight had fallen from her heart.

She felt less alone.

That measureless yearning for Pomponia and the house of Aulus, which had broken out in her a little while before, ceased at once to be painful.
The desire to see Vinicius and to talk with him drowned in her other voices.

In vain did she remember all the evil which she had heard of the house of Caesar, the words of Acte, the warnings of Pomponia; in spite of those words and warnings, she felt all at once that not only must she be at that feast, but that she wished to be there.