Livius's uncle, Bard, whom Livius has hated since childhood, returns from his travels around the world. He is handsome, popular with women and talented and he immediately tries to seduce Nike. Bard, Nike, and Livius all attend a Banquet hosted by the nobility. While Livius is out on the balcony waiting for Nike, Bard abducts Nike to her room. Nike finds out that Bard does not really want to seduce her, but was testing her to see if she was suitable to marry his nephew. Livius finds them at that very moment and has Nike confined to her room while planning to personally torture Bard to death for adultery.