Ruso and the Root of All Evils

87

The door-latch dropped with a click. Over in his bed, Tilla stirred and opened her eyes. He supposed she had crept in here to sleep off the exhaustion of all the chasing about last night. ‘Sorry to wake you.’

‘I am not asleep. I am thinking.’

This was ominous.

‘In my country,’ she said, ‘women can be warriors.’

‘Well, in my country they can’t.’

She said, ‘There is something I did not tell you about what happened in that bar in Arelate.’

‘Do you want me to know?’

She thought about that for a while, then said, ‘No.’

Outside, two figures were making their way down between the tall rows of the vineyard. Watching Cass slip an arm around Lucius’ ample waist as he paused to inspect a vine, Ruso said suddenly, ‘What makes a marriage happy?’

‘I do not know. I have never been married.’

Should he ask directly, or hint? Allude to his last proposal, or begin afresh? He should have practised. In the absence of rehearsal, it was best not to try to be clever. He took a deep breath and sat down beside her on the bed. ‘Tilla, I have something to ask you. Will you — ’

‘Those insects are not screeching today.’

He swallowed. ‘It’s the end of the summer.’

‘Soon the ships will stop crossing the seas.’

‘That’ll be a few weeks.’

‘Then I should go now.’

He said, ‘I can’t take you yet. I’ve promised to look after Tertius.’

‘And you have Lollia Saturnina and that old wife with the strange hair,’ she said.

‘They’re just friends.’

‘The nephews and nieces have their mother,’ she continued. ‘Cass and Lucius have each other. Marcia has her gladiator, Galla has Christos, your stepmother has Diphilus — ’

‘What?’

‘Oh, open your eyes, Ruso!’

They both stared at each other in surprise. She had never called him that before.

‘I need to visit Claudia this afternoon,’ he said, and watched her mouth tighten. ‘Just to see how she is and irritate her enough for her to remember why she can’t live with me.’

‘I see. And then what will happen?’

He said, ‘Ennia said there was a stash of money hidden away in Rome. If that’s true, it would help me shift the family debt. I could go down there and try to track it down — ’

‘I am not going to Rome.’

‘Or we could — ’

‘I have seen enough greedy people who like to show murder to their children.’

‘I — ’

‘If this is what you call peace, it is not worth it.’

He said, ‘Have you finished?’

She thought about that for a moment, then said, ‘Yes. For now.’

‘Or Valens is bound to know some unit in Britannia where there’s a medic’s job out of the reach of the rebels, or warriors, or whatever they’re supposed to be called.’

‘They should be called people of honour.’

‘Please don’t start that now.’

She said, ‘I am not the one who is starting.’

He lay back on the pillow with his hands behind his head. ‘You asked me once if I was ashamed of you.’

‘Are you?’

‘I’m the one who should be ashamed. I should have introduced you better.’

‘And what would you have said?’

He paused. ‘I would have said, “This is Tilla. She is the bravest and most beautiful woman I know, and I don’t deserve her.” ’

She smiled. ‘All these things are true.’ The smile faded. ‘I will want children,’ she said.

He thought about that for a moment. ‘I shall expect them to read and write and speak Latin and Greek and be properly brought up.’

‘I will teach them to sing the song of my ancestors.’

‘Do you have to?’

‘All six of them.’

‘What is this, a competition?’

He slid his hand into hers, and their fingers intertwined. After a moment he said, ‘You really think Arria and Diphilus are serious?’

‘You should encourage him. Then perhaps he will clean out the drains for free.’

‘We might not need him,’ he said. ‘Feel that breeze?’ He lifted his head to look out of the open window and squinted at the clouds forming in the distance. ‘I think it’s going to rain.’