Ruso and the Root of All Evils

85

Ruso ran both hands through his hair, buckled his belt and opened the door of the bath-house. As Probus strode away towards the garden gate, Arria was hurrying down from the porch. Across in the yard, Lollia Saturnina scrambled out of the back of a cart, and an anxious-looking woman who was presumably the aunt hurried forward and opened the yard gate for her.

Lucius said, ‘I need to leave this on my hair for another half-hour,’ and made to retreat back to the bath-house.

‘What was it you were going to tell me about the accounts?’

The tone of Lucius’ ‘Ah’ suggested that he had been hoping his brother would forget to ask. ‘We seem to have a bit more money than we thought.’

‘How much more?’

‘About two hundred.’ Lucius coughed. ‘Exactly two hundred, in fact.’

Ruso slumped against the door-frame.

‘It was in a bag that had slipped down behind the trunk.’

As Ruso said, ‘I don’t want to hear this,’ a chorus of petitions rang out.

‘Will somebody tell me what’s going on?’

‘Can I have a word, Ruso?’

‘Gaius, go and tell Marcia she’s got to come out!’

‘In fact,’ said Ruso, ‘I think I haven’t heard it. Use it to pay the wheelwright.’ He stepped forward and closed the door behind him. ‘Did somebody say Tertius is here?’

Ruso climbed up into Lollia’s vehicle and knelt beside Tertius on the straw. The lad was still horribly pale, but there was no more haemorrhaging, the toes were the right colour, and the wound did not seem to be inflamed or excessively swollen. Neither, according to Tertius, was it very painful. ‘Gnostus gave me some of his potion, sir.’

‘Yes,’ said Ruso, reaching across to take his pulse. ‘I’m going to have to find out what’s in Gnostus’ potion. Tell me, Tertius, how is it you keep turning up unexpectedly like this?’

The lad managed a smile, although he was too weak to lift his head. ‘Now that I’m not a gladiator, sir …’ He paused for breath. ‘I’d like to ask your permission to marry Marcia Petreia.’

‘I still don’t understand why.’

‘Because I love her, sir.’

Ruso released the pulse. ‘I meant, why aren’t you a gladiator?’

The lad shifted to get more comfortable and winced. ‘My aunt prayed to Christos for me, sir.’

Ruso was tempted to ask the aunt how Christos had come up with the huge sum of money that would be required to induce a gladiator trainer to pull a fighter out in the middle of the games. ‘I don’t know about Marcia,’ he said, recalling how Gnostus’ potion tended to addle the brain, ‘but I’d imagine that whoever paid for you has plans for you herself.’

‘Do I look like the sort of woman who fawns over gladiators, Ruso?’

Ruso wished he had checked behind him before speaking.

‘Our relationship is purely business,’ continued Lollia. ‘I’ve come to ask you to take care of this young man until he can work.’

‘I see,’ said Ruso, not entirely sure that he did.

‘I had some spare jewellery,’ she said, as casually as if she were speaking about a spare pair of socks. ‘His aunt told me about Tertius’ situation and said he was a good worker.’

Still baffled, Ruso said, ‘You could have bought an ordinary slave for much less.’

‘Our Lord gave his life to redeem us,’ said Lollia. ‘All I needed to give was a few coloured stones. And I’m certainly not looking for a man for myself. Not this close to the final judgement.’

‘I see,’ repeated Ruso, now wishing he didn’t. ‘So you’re another one?’

The gap-toothed smile that had so impressed him a few days ago reappeared. ‘I was still thinking about it when you took the trouble to warn me the other day,’ she said. ‘Your attitude helped me make my mind up.’

‘Which Lord is that, Lollia dear?’ asked Arria, who had evidently been listening over the garden wall.

While Lollia was cheerfully confirming that she had decided to join the followers of Christos, Ruso was deciding that he was going to keep his mouth shut about religion in future. And he was going to have proper arrangements for visitors, with a waiting area and servants to usher people in and out of the study, instead of holding this sort of free-for-all where anybody could wander up and barge into his conversations.

‘Gaius is very interested in Christos, aren’t you, Gaius? Would he have to do that circumcision thing, do you think, dear, or don’t they do that these days?’

‘I am not doing the circumcision thing!’ snapped Ruso. ‘And I am not going to turn into a follower of Christos. Somebody has to keep their feet on the ground around here. Sorry, Lollia.’

‘Oh, but Gaius, dear, you could — ’

‘No, he couldn’t, Mother,’ insisted Flora. ‘And besides, Lollia’s given loads of her money away now, so what’s the point?’