”Worse than the Victorians?”
”Lots worse,” Malcolm said dryly.
”Too bad. It’s a horrid thing to say about people who invented … well, lots of things.”
Malcolm sighed. -Margo, you really have to study.”
”I know! I am studying. I’ll study more when we get back! At least I can now tell you everything Francis Marion ever did, said, or thought!”
Still a sore subject. He was sorry, indeed, that she and Kit had fought about it. All La-La land had buzzed with the gossip when Margo had walked out of the Delight and headed for the library in tears-leaving Kit so rattled a down timer, for God’s sake, had nearly gotten the better of him in a hand-to-hand with a croquet mallet. That was the primary reason Malcolm was here: to convince her how important those studies were. Malcolm took his job seriously.
Then he had to stifle a grin: If the Hilaria and Ludi Megalenses didn’t convince Margo she needed to study, nothing would.
A Time Tours guide opened the outside door again to communicate with employees in the wineshop proper. The roar of noise from the Via Appia just beyond caused a wave of excited laughter to ripple its way back through the tourists. The soundproofed door closed and the Time Tours guide stepped onto a crate to command attention.
”As you know, we’ll all be staying at the inn we’ve purchased in the Aventinus district, west of the Baths of Decius and southwest of the Temples of Minerva and Luna. That’s very close to the Circus Maximus, in the heart of the sacred district, so we’re not far from it now. We’ll go there first. It’s vital that everyone know how to find it. If you get lost, find the Circus and you can find the inn again. The most important instruction I have for you is simple: Don’t get separated from your guides! There are more than a million people living in Rome right now, not to mention the thousands more who’ve crowded in for the Games of the Magna Mater.