A Roman Ransom

Chapter Seventeen

For a moment I had nothing to say at all. I was incapable of speech. I could not have been more shocked and terrified if the painted birds and cherubs on the frieze round the wall had suddenly detached themselves and flown across the room.

For this was very serious indeed. A formal accusation of that type, made before a person in authority and in the presence of the man accused, is legally all that is required for an arrest — though Marcus, as a senior magistrate, had discretion to decide whether a prosecution should proceed. I remember thinking that this ordered atrium, with its fine mosaics and gilded sacred niche, was a strange place to find oneself effectively on trial.

Marcus, too, was staring in astonishment. He had been nibbling at a date but now he sat transfixed, as if the words had turned him into stone with his hand halfway to his mouth. There was a pause before he put the remnant down, drew himself magisterially erect and said, in his coldest, most unbending tone, ‘I regret, Libertus, that you have chosen not to mention Myrna’s visit until now. Cilla, is it true?’

Even the burly guard could see that the tone of questioning had abruptly changed. He stepped forward, seized Cilla by the hair and hauled her roughly to her feet. ‘Answer His Excellence,’ he snarled, thrusting her forward as he spoke.

Cilla’s head was forced backwards by his grasp but through gritted teeth she stammered out, ‘I don’t know anything about a nurse. Ow, let me go!’

The soldier did not relax his grip.

Philades said coldly, ‘Don’t tell us lies, girl. Nothing you can say will protect your master now. I saw you with the woman only yesterday, when I came with the litter to escort Libertus here. I saw you talking to her at the gate.’

Cilla said, ‘That woman? I remember her — ow! — at least I could do, if I had a chance to think, instead of having my hair pulled out by this man.’ She was forced to speak to the ceiling, as she could not look at us.

My patron nodded at the soldier, and he let her go — though not without a spiteful parting yank.

‘So now you do admit it?’ Marcus barked.

Cilla’s eyes had filled with tears of pain. ‘I didn’t know she was the wet nurse here. She didn’t say she worked for you. She certainly wasn’t here when I was — Julia had another woman then. Excellence, I swear, I didn’t know. I thought she’d come about a pavement. She wanted the mosaic-maker, she said.’

‘So you admit that she had business with your master?’ That was Philades.

Cilla nodded. ‘She asked to see him, as they always do. It has happened several times since he’s been ill. So I said what I always say: “It’s quite impossible. He’s been very ill. He’s resting at the moment and can’t be disturbed.” I asked if it was a commission, and she said it was — “And a very urgent one as well, and nobody but Libertus Flavius will do. He’ll want to see me when he knows what it’s about.” Well, I’ve heard that before, as well. I was quite stern with her. “If it’s about a pavement, it will have to wait. You can come back in a day or two,” I said. I didn’t want to put her off too much. My master was getting a little better, after all, and I thought he might want the commission, later on — obviously he hasn’t earned since he’s been ill.’

Marcus had been listening to this narrative with care. ‘So you told her to come back later on? And what did Myrna say to that?’

‘Myrna, is that her name? She wasn’t pleased. In fact, she went quite pale and jumpy suddenly — I thought her master must be very cruel, and that she was expecting to be whipped when she got home for failing to deliver the message properly. I felt quite sorry for her. So I said, “You can leave the details with me. I’ll see he gets the message when he’s better.” But that wasn’t good enough. “I have to speak to him myself,” she said, as sharp as she could be. “I’ll come back a bit later on this afternoon, if there is a chance he’ll be awake. I tell you, you’ll regret it if you don’t let me see him soon.”’ Cilla had never been trained in rhetoric but she had a natural sense of theatre: she told this story as if talking to a child, altering her tone for every speaker and acting out each part.

Marcus acknowledged the performance with a nod. ‘And?’

‘Well, I was a bit annoyed, to tell the truth. Talking to me in that sort of voice, when all I wanted was to help her out. So I went all official. “I’m afraid it won’t do you any good at all,” I said. “He’s going to the villa of his patron later on today.” And just to make sure she got the point, I added. “That’s His Excellence Marcus Aurelius Septimus. You can see the litter now, just coming down the lane.” Well, I could see from her face she was impressed, and she starting backing away from me at once. That’ll teach her to have a bit more respect, I thought, and so it did. Next thing I knew she’d scuttled off without a word.’

Philades was visibly impatient. He gave a derisive snort. ‘Excellence, how long are you going to listen to these lies? It’s quite clear that Myrna went to the pavement-maker’s house. Even this slave admits the fact. And an hour afterwards, at most, your son mysteriously reappears. Myrna has always seemed suspicious to me. She was the one servant who was anywhere near Julia the day she disappeared — and she was conveniently in the kitchens at the time. Then, when you send for her again, she can’t be found. Do you really believe this is coincidence?’

‘But I’ve never spoken to the wet nurse,’ I protested. ‘You heard what Cilla said. She didn’t get a chance to speak to me, even if she did come to the house.’

‘All the more suspicious,’ the doctor said, in a most unpleasant tone. ‘Clearly some arrangement was already made. Excellence, you heard the maidservant. It’s clear the roundhouse was the centre of all this. There have been several people calling there, she says, on the pretence of wanting pavements made. Do you believe that they’d come all that way, when there are other pavement-makers in the town?’

‘My master is renowned for miles around,’ Cilla said stoutly. It was meant in my defence but it earned her another vicious shove.

‘Silence!’ Marcus snapped the word. He turned towards me and his eyes were cold. He had slipped on the role of impartial magistrate as certainly as if he were in the courts. ‘Libertus, it pains me to have to say so, but this does look bad for you. The doctor’s right. Myrna calls at your house, and shortly afterwards my son appears again — with you. Then your slave and your wife are found at Lallius’s house, and Lallius is clearly implicated in the kidnapping.’

‘But, Excellence. .’ I had half started from my stool, but a gesture from Marcus sent me to my knees, another petitioner alongside Cilla on the floor. ‘I swear that I know nothing of any of this.’

‘He’s lying, Excellence,’ Philades said, and his lips twisted into that strange smile again. ‘I should warn him that I have other evidence against him, which emerged while you were out. More than enough to have this accusation brought to court.’

‘Evidence?’ My patron and I exclaimed in chorus.

The medicus gave another of his smiles. ‘Excellence, it is more than evidence — it is outright proof. As soon as this girl was brought here by the guard I remembered where I’d seen her earlier. I asked the officer commanding to send two of his mounted escorts back at once to search the mosaic-maker’s house again.’ He glanced at me. ‘And to do it properly this time.’

Marcus looked annoyed at this — it was not the doctor’s place to organise the guard — and I was about to make a feeble protest too, but the medicus held up his hand. ‘Excellence, I presumed on your authority a little, and I apologise. But hear me out. I know that you were there in person a little while ago, but I knew that you would not go inside the house yourself, and if there was anything to find the pavement-maker would obviously not produce it. And I think you will agree that I was justified. He has been a party to everything — as, Excellence, I hope to prove to you. If I may have a servant. .?’

‘But. .’ I began.

‘Silence, pavement-maker!’ my patron barked at me. My heart sank to my sandal-soles. He would never normally address me in that way.

He clapped his hands together, and at once Minimus and Maximus appeared — so quickly that I was left in little doubt that there’d been listeners in the court with their ears pressed eagerly against the door. News would be round the villa in a trice. My patron took their alacrity for granted, as he always did. He gestured for the medicus to instruct them what to do.

‘Fetch the bag that was brought back from the roundhouse earlier.’

‘Bag, Excellence?’ I echoed stupidly. I might have tried to rise, but a push from the burly guard reminded me that this was not a good idea. ‘I noticed that a bag was missing from the house, but I supposed that Gwellia had taken it.’

‘A clever answer, citizen, as I might have expected from your lips. But this is no bag of yours,’ the doctor said, his pinched face sharp and shrewd.

I was surprised by the wave of helpless fury which washed over me. All this, I was convinced, was his doing in some way. He had set out to undermine my patron’s trust in me and he seemed to be succeeding. I wondered what the famous ‘proof’ would be.

We had not long to wait. The two boys were back in what seemed no time at all. With them was a lanky soldier, in burnished uniform. He carried his helmet underneath one arm, and in the other hand he was holding an enormous leather bag, straight before him at arm’s length, as though it were some sort of ceremonial.

He marched up to Marcus and drew smartly to a halt. ‘In the name of his most imperial divinity, the emperor. .’ — and so on through Commodus’s growing list of names and honorifics (he was even calling himself ‘Hercules’ these days), finishing breathlessly, ‘Cavalryman Rectus, reporting as requested. Excellence!’ He held the bag out for inspection. It was a fine drawstring one, of a quality and size that isn’t often seen. Not by me, certainly.

Marcus looked levelly at me. ‘Well?’

I shook my head. ‘Excellence. I swear by all the gods. I have never seen that bag before. It’s. .’ And then, of course. I realised what it was. I felt myself go pale. ‘Is that the bag you put the ransom in?’

‘He’s feigning. Excellence. He knows quite well it is.’ The doctor had half risen to his feet, and turned triumphantly to Marcus. ‘Wait until you see what was found inside. With your permission, Excellence, that is?’

Marcus nodded. The soldier placed his trophy on the ground and took two smart steps backwards. Everybody watched.

Philades took the bag and slowly opened it, and — in the manner of a market conjurer — drew out a small embroided garment. There was a gasp. An infant’s long-sleeved tunic. And then a little woollen cap with ties under the chin. I watched with horror as the doctor added to the pile, finishing with a pair of tiny leather shoes and a hooded cape with gold embroidery — the very miniature of Marcus’s own. There was a hush until, after what seemed an eternity, Philades spoke again. ‘These would belong to Marcellinus, I presume?’

My patron had turned as white as newly fulled cloth, though two angry spots were burning in his cheeks.

‘Does this not convince you that this man was part of it?’ Philades said.

‘Do not believe him,’ I begged.

Marcus looked at me. It was clear that he really thought he’d been betrayed. ‘I should have listened to him earlier. He warned me that you were in the plot and that a fever could derange the mind. It distresses me to find he was right, though I was loth to think so. I can scarcely believe it even now, but I cannot ignore the evidence of my own two eyes. Yet I cannot comprehend how you could plan all this when you were almost ready for the ferryman to take you across the Styx.’ He turned to the soldier ‘Where did you find the bag?’

Two steps forward and a swift salute. ‘Sir! Stuffed into the woven fence that encircles the roundhouse. Just beside the gate and only half concealed. I dismounted and collected it while my companion went inside and searched the rest of the enclosure and the huts. There appeared to be nothing else to find, though he was very thorough, I believe. Sir!’

Meaning he had ransacked everything. I could not restrain myself any longer. Even before the soldier had moved back to stand beside the burly guard. I was already crying out. ‘I swear that it was not there when we were, Excellence!’ By now I was pleading for my life. ‘Ask Junio. .’ I saw my patron’s look of scorn. ‘Ask Pulcrus — he was there! Ask your carriage driver. Patron, you were there yourself! If it was as badly hidden as this man suggests, someone would have seen it, wouldn’t they?’ I could see that my patron was considering my words, and a sudden inspiration struck me. ‘Ask Malodius — he was holding the horses the whole time we were in the house — and he was standing right beside the gate.’

Marcus’s expression did not change a whit. ‘You two pageboys, fetch Malodius. Soldier, you may dismiss. Report to your commander.’ All three obeyed at once.

There followed a long and anxious wait — hushed, except that my heart was thumping so I was sure that everyone could hear. I wanted to plead that the medicus had very likely contrived to have the bag and its contents found, but I knew that counter-accusations would do no good. The soldier had obviously found the bag exactly where he claimed. But who had put it there? I could see no way that Philades could have managed it himself. He could not have left the villa without someone seeing him, and doubtless there would be a dozen witnesses to swear that he had been here all day. I was still wrestling with this problem when Philades broke the silence, still arguing his case.

‘Forgive me, Excellence, but even if Malodius did not see the bag, it doesn’t prove Libertus innocent. It may be that he hid it in the fencing as he left. Ask yourself why he was so keen to call in at the roundhouse at all? Because he knew the bag was there, perhaps?’

‘My wife was missing!’ I protested.

Philades sneered. ‘How convenient! And now the money’s missing too. Excellence, consider. We only have this Cilla’s word for it that there was no one in that house last night: someone picked up the ransom, after all. And we did find the bag, with your son’s clothes inside.’

My patron turned to me. ‘Libertus, I want to believe you had no part in this. But I fear that it is difficult to do. First my son is mysteriously returned to you, and not to me; then your wife and maidservant are seen to call at Lallius’s house — indeed they scheme to do so and elude the guards; next I learn that Myrna has visited your house, although you swear you never saw her in your life — and now I’m faced with this! The medicus is right. I am forced to draw conclusions, am I not? These facts would be sufficient in a court of law to have you exiled to a barren island for life — if not to something a great deal nastier. . Ah — slaves, there you are.’

This time it was Maximus who began. ‘I regret to inform you, Excellence. .’

‘But Malodius is nowhere to be found. .’

‘They say he’s gone out in the cart. .’

‘To take some land slaves out. .’

‘On your own instructions, Excellence,’ the older page finished with a gulp, as if apologetic for having failed in his task. And then he added, in a solo rush, ‘But he’s put the body of the wet nurse where you told him to. It is dressed and ready for the pyre.’

‘Never mind Malodius and what he saw or didn’t see,’ the doctor snapped. ‘The point is that the bag was there. It is clear that. .’ He stopped and his face took on a sudden puzzled frown. ‘Did you say the body of the wet nurse?’

The two redheads stepped forward. ‘They’ve got her washed. .’

‘And wrapped up in a sheet. .’

‘With a few herbs from the kitchen and a candle at her head. .’

‘She’s lying on a piece of board, all ready for the cart.’

‘The female house slaves saw to it. They say that Malodius called them in and told them those were your orders, Excellence.’ Minimus might have said more but his other half prodded him sharply in the back and he stepped meekly into his place again, beside the gilded pillar on the wall.

Marcus nodded vaguely. Obviously he had more important matters on his mind. ‘I had forgotten that I’d ordered the cart out again. Why, what is the problem, Philades?’

The doctor was looking shaken. ‘You asked me to have a look at Myrna, not half an hour ago.’

‘Of course. It is clear the girl’s been stabbed, but I would be interested in your opinion, all the same. She has been tortured, by the look of it. I would like you to examine her and give me your views.’

‘But. .?’ Philades was staring at me in that way he had. ‘How long has she been dead?’

‘You are better qualified than I am to determine that,’ Marcus said brusquely. ‘Not longer than a day, apparently, since you saw her alive yesterday at Libertus’s gate.’

I gained a little courage from this brisk rebuke, and raised my head again. Something of interest had occurred to me. ‘With your permission, Excellence, with regard to that. How did the doctor know that it was Myrna he saw? According to the household pages, he was never at the villa while she was working here. By the time he arrived, you had sent her home. So how could he have recognised her, as he says he did? And why didn’t he mention it before?’

Philades gave me another of his looks and turned his back on me. He spoke to Marcus. ‘With respect, Excellence, I did attempt to tell you. You would hear nothing against this citizen for which I had no solid proof. But now, perhaps, you are prepared to hear. And as to knowing who it was, she fitted the description of Myrna that I’d heard — and a wet nurse has certain features which are obvious, even if one is not a medicus. However, since the girl is lying in your stable block, it will be a simple matter to resolve. If I go and look at her I can tell at once if it is the girl I saw before.’

Marcus nodded. ‘Do so,’ he said, and the doctor went.

My heart sank. Whether this was the same girl or not I was certain that the medicus would claim it was. However, I summoned the last remnants of my strength and tried to conduct myself with dignity. ‘Forgive me, Excellence. I do not trust the medicus to tell the truth. Permit Cilla to go with him and look at the body too. She can confirm his story — either way.’

Marcus looked stonily at me. ‘You do not think that she would lie for you?’

‘Well,’ Cilla offered, ‘Kurso saw our visitor, as well. He is the one who fetched me when she came — he’s far too shy to speak to her himself, but he must have had a proper look at her. If you could send for him, he’d soon tell you the truth. He can’t know what has been happening here, so he would have no reason to tell you any lies.’

Marcus considered this. ‘And where is Kurso now?’

‘I suppose he’s in the workshop in the town. Or on his way back from Glevum with my mistress by this time. In any case he won’t be hard to find.’

I took a chance and knelt a little more upright. The guard raised his hand, but Marcus bade him stop. ‘You see, Excellence,’ I urged, ‘the girl offers you an impartial witness of her own accord. She knows that what she’s telling you is true. Patron — mightiness — I swear by all the gods, I had no part in this. I didn’t know the girl had come to me — I didn’t know the bag was in my fence. I’ve never seen those little clothes before, and I have no idea who could have put them there.’

A cloud passed over Marcus’s face. ‘I wish I could believe you,’ he said.

I seized on this tiny scrap of hope. ‘Excellence, you said yourself, I have been very ill. How could I possibly have been involved?’ I saw that he was weakening, and I said impulsively, ‘Give me a day or two — that’s all I ask — to prove my innocence.’

He looked at me. ‘The doctor thinks I ought to have you in the cells. He has been telling me that ever since you came here yesterday. And certainly the facts look bad for you. But I still find it hard to understand how, when you were so ill. .’ He paused. ‘Very well. I accede to your request. You may not leave the villa, unless under guard, but within the walls you may continue free. I will even consent to have you waited on and you may make enquiries of the servants as you wish. I hope you can convince me that my leniency in this is justified. You can do that best by bringing Julia back. Two days, that’s all — or I’ll be forced to reconsider. You understand?’

I noticed that he still talked about my ‘bringing Julia back’ as though it were in my power, but I nodded gratefully. ‘You are merciful, Excellence.’ I bowed my head.

He did not smile, but rose majestically and clapped his hands again. Servants and soldiers crowded in. ‘Take the girl away and strike the chains from her. Junio, take this citizen to bed and let him rest. He looks in want of it. Pages, attend me to my bedchamber — I am in need of a little rest myself.’