Nero

20

A month or so later I happened to be in Naples when Terpnus gave a performance at the concert hall, and Lucius (who'd travelled down specially) invited me to join him in the imperial box. Not alone, naturally: he never went anywhere these days without a following of elegant young men, artists and musicians. There would be a good dozen of us squeezed cheek by jowl into a space meant for half as many. I was late, unavoidably so. Terpnus was tuning up when I arrived, and Lucius was already seated.

'Titus!’ he said. ‘At long last! What kept you?'

'I'm sorry. Domestic crisis.'

'Never mind, we saved you a place.' He grinned. 'Come and sit beside Poppy.'

I hadn't noticed Poppaea on his other side, possibly because I hadn't expected her to be there. And Poppaea Sabina was not the sort of woman one failed to notice.

Seated, she was taller than Lucius, with the perfect regularity of features which ought to have produced an ordinary prettiness but went beyond it into beauty. At the same time she radiated a coldness which was unique in my experience; as if her beauty and softness were overlaid with a thin coating of ice. As I climbed over protesting bodies towards her she turned and looked at me. It was like being run through with an icicle.

'I'm sorry,' I said again, to Lucius. 'The friend I'm staying with tripped over his mistress's cat and broke a leg.'

Lucius laughed.

'His own leg or the cat's?' he said. 'Or was it his mistress's?'

'Don't be a fool, dear.' Poppaea frowned. 'Petronius is making it up.'

'It's the truth! I swear!' It was; by the time I'd finished laughing and got the poor man's slaves to summon a doctor I had been abominably delayed.

'Oh, never mind, darling, you're here anyway.' Lucius waved a hand to Terpnus who along with the rest of the audience had been waiting for the disturbance caused by my arrival to subside. 'Now do sit down and shut up, there's a good fellow.'

I squeezed past Poppaea, incidentally (and accidentally) confirming what Lucius had said about her breasts. From what I could see of them from above — which was quite a lot — they were flawless, white as Parian marble. She caught my eye and glared at me. We were not, obviously, destined to be friends.

The whole auditorium fell silent as, with another glance towards Lucius, Terpnus began to play. Naples is a Greek city, and so civilised. In Rome we'd have been lucky to hear anything above the cracking of nuts and roasted melon seeds. Here the audience treated the performing artist with the courtesy he deserved. Terpnus sang, of course, in Greek — mostly his own compositions, with some older works. Both the singing and the lyre-playing were excellent, but one song I completely failed to place. When it was over, and while Terpnus was refreshing his throat with a cup of water, I leaned towards Poppaea (there was no point in antagonising the lady by ignoring her) and whispered: 'Whose was that last one? It was very good, wasn't it?'

Poppaea's lips set firmly into a line. Lucius, who must have heard, grinned at me and looked smug.

'There you are, Poppy!' he said. 'Didn't I tell you Titus had a good ear?'

The pressed lips were exchanged for a definite scowl. I didn't attempt further conversation with her until the concert was over.

We went backstage, of course, after the performance. Terpnus was in the star's dressing-room, changed out of his finery and sipping from a cup of Numentian wine mixed with barley water. Lucius embraced him.

'Splendid, my dear!' he said in Greek. 'Simply splendid!'

'It was your own composition that was splendid, sir.' Offstage Terpnus was a little puffed-up pigeon of a man with a few grey hairs plastered over his bald pate. 'I only hope I didn't spoil it too badly.'

'It was rather good, wasn't it?' Lucius turned towards me, beaming, his arm still round the little man's shoulders. 'Titus spotted it right away.'

Poppaea was still scowling. 'Petronius knew all the time,’ she said. ‘He only asked about it to please you.'

'Oh, nonsense! Nonsense!' Lucius pulled her towards him with his free arm and hugged her. 'What a horribly devious mind you have, darling! Titus didn't know it was mine. No one did except you and Terpnus. Isn't that right, Titus?'

'Of course it is.'

'Genius,' Terpnus murmured sententiously, 'cannot be hidden. The rest of my performance was a mere shadow.'

'Tosh!' Lucius coloured up with pleasure and gave him another squeeze. Terpnus winced. 'Mind you, I am coming along nicely. In a year or so I'll give you a proper run for your money. Eh, Poppy?'

He smiled at her. Standing, their eyes were on a level.

'I think Terpnus is quite right, darling,' she said. 'You're much the better already.'

'There's my lovely girl!' Lucius kissed her. 'Well, maybe I am. We'll see.'

'The Lord Nero's musical genius is surpassed only by his skill on the tragic stage,' someone behind me said in a slow, bored voice. I turned. Lounging against the doorpost was a tall dark-haired man with heavy Semitic features.

'Alityrus!' Lucius cried, and let go of both Poppaea and Terpnus. 'Oh, how marvellous! Where did you spring from, darling?'

I'd never met the man properly, but I knew who he was: a Jewish comic actor and a friend of both Poppaea's and Lucius's. Whether the word was a euphemism or not I didn't know. Nor did I particularly want to.

'I'm on at the local theatre.' Whatever the man's relationship with Lucius, he was undressing Poppaea with his eyes. She stared back at him without expression. 'Or will be from tomorrow.'

'Really? What play?'

'Cratinos's Flood.'

'Oh, my dear!' Lucius grinned. 'Not Cratinos! Oh, you poor thing!'

Alityrus shrugged and took his shoulder from the wood. He hadn't, I think, moved his gaze once from Poppaea even while he was talking to Lucius; and he certainly hadn't acknowledged Terpnus's presence, let alone my own. I doubt if I'd ever encountered anyone quite so self-centred.

'It's a play,' he said. 'And the gent who's paying likes them old and wrinkled. Me, I'm different.' He half-winked at Poppaea; her breasts rose and fell. 'But then I've got to eat, haven't I?'

'Alityrus, you haven't congratulated our host yet,' Poppaea said quickly. 'That is not polite, dear.'

The heavy-lidded eyes swung towards Terpnus. The puffy little Greek was scowling, and clearly resented no longer being the centre of attention. 'Congratulations,' he said.

That was all. Terpnus merely nodded — neither the single word nor the tone called for anything more — , excused himself and stormed out as noisily as he dared.

I wondered what the man thought he was doing, and how he could be so stupid as to insult the emperor's favourite so blatantly; and then I looked at Lucius and understood. Alityrus was perfectly safe, from Terpnus at least. The emperor was fussing like an ugly spinster in the presence of a suitor half her age, biting his lips to redden them and touching the tightly curled fringes of his hair. Older men have never interested me. I was faintly amused and, I confess to my shame, faintly repelled.

'I don't think I know the Flood,' I said.

Alityrus favoured me with a slow stare. Having got rid of one irrelevancy to the company he was obviously preparing to remove the second.

'There's no reason why you should,' he said. 'It hasn't been performed in years and the jokes have beards longer than a rabbi's.'

'This is Titus Petronius, dear.' Lucius's arm was over Poppaea's shoulders again. His fingertips brushed the top of her left breast, but his eyes never left the other man's face. I was treated to the barest of nods before the lazy eyes swung away from me. 'Of course we've got Helorus for set design,' he said, addressing Lucius, 'so the effects are good. That always pulls the crowd.'

'Do tell!' I could almost see Lucius's ears prick up. He had a child's love of gadgetry, and the palace was full of the odd, clever machines which the Greeks delight in.

'Oh, they're brilliant. The boat stops the show.'

'Boat?'

'For the flood scene. It's the length of the stage, with hinges all along the deck. Lovely work. You'd think it was real.' For the first time Alityrus's voice held a trace of colour. 'When it opens up the punters go wild.'

'A hinged boat! Oh, how very clever!' Lucius nodded, his eyes still fixed on Alityrus while the fingers of his left hand stroked Poppaea's breast. I suddenly had the most curious sensation of being invisible. 'You're quite right, my dear, we must see this boat of yours. Tomorrow, you say? The first night's tomorrow?'

'As ever is.' Alityrus was staring at Poppaea, who stared coolly back.

All at once Lucius shivered, like a dog shaking water from its coat.

'Then we'll go,' he said. 'We'll all go just to see the marvellous hinged boat. A little theatrical outing. But tonight' — he gave a suddenbrilliant smile that embraced them both and excluded me — 'tonight, my darlings, we'll have some supper together, to whet our appetites. After that…well, after that we'll see, shall we?'

I made my excuses, and left quickly.