According to the Annals, Mildred assured everyone that she only needed to verify one small reference.
Three hours later, the table had disappeared beneath a mountain of parchments, four new indexes and a stack of notes written in surprisingly neat handwriting.
Aurelius tried to ask whether it would take much longer.
Without looking up from the papers, Mildred replied:
—“Now I’ve almost got it.”
The records indicate that this exact phrase was repeated seventeen times that same afternoon.
