gossip about their schoolmates and Henry made interestednoises, but his thoughts were entirely elsewhere.Inaddition to satisfying his own possessive urges, hed liked tothink hed been protecting Martin by staying out of swaps, butperhaps what he was really doing was keeping Martin from gettingsomething he wanted. He wanted Martin to be happy, he did, but hecouldnt allow Martin to have other partners, much less permit himto take on whole groups of boys with their poking, prodding pricks.Henryand Martin got off the omnibus first, waving their goodbyes.Youreally like Tom, dont you? Henry tried not to sound accusatory.Sir?Tom.You really like him.Wevebecome such close friends, Sir. Hes good fun. Martin seemedentirely guileless in offering up this information, but Henryremained jealous and suspicious.Theywere let into the house by Paul, who took their coats, and they wentupstairs with their schoolbags and the box with Martins newskates. Martin put his things in his room and came out to embraceHenry where he stood before the fire. Henry did not turn whenMartins arms came around him.Henry?Martin let his arms drop. Is everything all right?Henrywanted to punish Martin, but that was unfair, and he knew it. Hedidnt even know for certain that what Freddie had said was true(although it felttrue). It wasnt Martins fault that Henry wasnt smart enoughto have asked the right questions in the first place.Hedoverheard plenty of stories about how the slaves had behaved at otherhouses, the sorts of wild orgies that went on, but hed convincedhimself that Ganymede was different. Ganymede was the most venerableof the Houses! Surely there were rules in place! Standards that weremaintained! But of course hed never actually asked Martin aboutspecifics, and Martin certainly didnt volunteer information abouthis sexual past.Ijust have a few questions about Ganymede, Henry said, turning toface him, arms crossed over his chest. If you dont mind.Martinshands flew up in a panic, fluttering like birds, and he lookednervously away, flustered and uncomfortable. Of course not, Henry,but you know this subject does sometimes upset you...Beforeleaving Ganymede, Henry knew that Martin had had sex with both Stuartand his friend Charlie and probably a teacher or two, but he alsosuspected there had to have been more. Henry was prepared for thereto be more, or thought he was. Five men. Seven. Fewer than ten,surely!Iknow you werent exactly innocent when you came to me, Martin, andI need to know how many there were before. Henry had hoped not tosound so accusatory, or so petulant.Sir?Itannoyed Henry that Martin was nervously resorting to honorifics, andit seemed like a sign of a guilty conscience.Howmany men before me, exactly? Was it all the boys from your group? TheSuperiors? More than that, even?Martinput a tentative hand on Henry's arm. Sir, please, he said.There werequite a few, Sir, but it shouldn't matter, really. You know I wastrained, Sir, thoroughly trained. I wouldn't have been soldotherwise.Itdoes matter to me,Henry insisted, his anger escalating precipitously. Do you evenknow the number? Is it too many to remember? Do you compare me withthem?IfI did compare, Sir, Martin said, hurt and a little haughty, youwould surely come out ahead. Were supremely compatible, Sir, atleast that's what I