This guy is a real piece of work, about to sell his daughter into whoring, and he hardly expects to get much money out of it either. ... Not much money ... Say, this may fit into your plans very well, very well indeed...
"I'm surprised you are willing to sell your daughter. If nothing else, she looks like she would be your star whore here." You buy another ale to keep him talking.
"Well, she's probably not mine. I just let her ma take out the rent in trade at times. I was just the only guy still around when she was born. Could have been any of dozens of guys." Looking at him and her, you are inclined to think it was some other guy. "I figured calling myself the dad would let me make her maw work harder for less, which did work at first, but she got sick with the Cough and died on me. So then I was stuck with the brat, and she really was one. Wouldn't do any work at all, and did it badly when I forced her to work." Another glance suggests he is not wildly exaggerating. The girl may be hot, but she is also sullen and doing the bare minimum. One of the guards puts an overly friendly hand on an inviting spot and she clobbers him, spitting at him as he falls.
"You see." her 'father' observes. She just doesn't have the attitude to make a whore. Give him a slap and a wiggle as she walks away and he'd be paying her twice the going rate if not more. Instead she fights off most of the men and those that like it rough say she still isn't any fun and will only pay me half. Just not worth the trouble. Storkey figures he can break her but he won't pay me much since he will have to bribe the law. That's why I'm hoping those guards carry her off. I can threaten to play the devastated dad and get them in real trouble with their captain unless they start paying for the booze they drink here."
"You can actually sell your daughter?" you ask as you start another serving of very watered-ale.
"Not exactly." he answers, "but there are ways that pretty much amount to the same thing. Easiest way is to sign apprentice papers for her. Then she is your problem for 7 years and by the time that is up, nobody cares."
"You know, I might just be interested in that." you mention.
"Huh?", but why? How can you get anything out of her?" her startled 'dad' asks.
"That's my business." you respond, "But I can give you earnest money here and now and if I don't come up with the rest in a week, you can have her back none the worse, and of course you keep the gold."
"But my only daughter..." This signals the start of the bargaining. It takes some time, but he can't get much out of you. You both know he can't get much for the girl elsewhere and is only a step from just throwing her out on the street. And since the master pays the apprentice's room and board, many apprentices have to pay to get the job. You get the idea he thinks you will be tying her to a bed and letting men have a go at her for a couple of copper a throw. That may be disgusting, but you only talk about the high prices for rent, the expense of bribing the law and the need to hire muscle to keep girls in line. That lowers the price and you are eventually handing over some gold and shaking his hand.
You would rather beat him to a pulp and then run off with the girl, but while you have a pretty good chance of getting away with that, you can see too many ways that can ruin everything. Your escapades may have led to you being thrown out of your home, but you had always managed to avoid the unnecessary risks. You had been the last of your gang of younger sons to be expelled from the village because you had made sure nothing went wrong when you tried something forbidden. So you smile, sign the paper, and pass over the gold. You still owe a little, but if everything goes well, that will be small change.
So you go off to the girl, "Nicole, you are now my apprentice." You show her the papers, which you seriously doubt she can read. "Get what things you may have. We will be leaving here immediately."
Nicole makes what may seem to her a perfectly sensible response, "You ain't raping me."
"Presumably not." you respond, "But you are coming with me one way or another, and you may find our relationship very profi...."
"This lout bothering you?" It is one of the guards and you attempt to blow him off by showing this is a case of master & apprentice, and no business of his. Unfortunately he has an interest in the girl too. "You can't take Nikki away from here. She's ours!" Suddenly you are surrounded by 5 hostile guards who are not interested in enforcing the law. You try to point out you are in the legal right anyway, but apparently they had been planning on kidnapping Nicole tonight and are quite upset that you acted first. You are going to have to do something extralegal if you want to keep Nicole. These clowns are lowest of the low, but there are still 5 of them and they have friends, lots of them. No way you can fight your way clear.
But perhaps a duel... "Perhaps you would like to contest for her..."
At least the idea isn't rejected out of hand. "Yeah? What have you got in mind?