Well, it's possible the relationship between Jolenta and Dorcas is intended to strain our credulity--it seems unlikely that Severian has
witnessed anything, and I think there's a good chance this is just Sev.'s jealous imagination at work (and possibly a hint of Proust's Marcel's obsessive probing of Albertine's relations with women--although Severian is much more matter-of-fact about it and in Proust the suspicion is justified, while here it may not be).
"And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." John 8:32
Alex David Groce (agroce+ at cs.cmu.edu)
Ph.D. Student, Carnegie Mellon University - Computer Science Department 8112 Wean Hall (412)-268-3066 http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~agroce