midnight
Vinicius sprang toward it , and after him Petronius , Niger , and two British slaves with the litter . But before they had reached it in the darkness , the voice of Nazarius was heard , full of pain , -- `` Lord , they took her with Ursus to the Esquiline prison . We are carrying another body ! They removed her before midnight . '' Petronius , when he had returned home , was gloomy as a storm , and did not even try to console Vinicius . He understood that to free Lygia from the Esquiline dungeons was not to be dreamed of . He divined that very likely she had been taken from the Tullianum so as not to die of fever and escape the amphitheatre assigned to her .