Terra Incognita

62

Aemilia was still in her room. Her insistence that she was not to be disturbed left Tilla-who was sharing her room-with nowhere to go. Finally, still agitated by the argument with the medicus and uneasy at being idle while someone else did all the work, she wandered into the kitchen and asked Ness if there were anything she could do to help.

“To help me?” demanded Ness, surprised.

She was given some dry laundry to fold, but it was obvious that despite having complained of overwork Ness was discomfited by her interference.

“So,” said Tilla, holding up an undertunic to gauge where the center was, “How is it, working for my uncle’s family?”

“They took me in when I was without a home,” said Ness, folding a garment herself at twice the speed. “There is plenty of money for housekeeping.” After a pause she said, “And Miss Aemilia needs someone to look after her.”

“And my uncle?”

Ness shrugged her thin shoulders. “He is not changed.”

“No,” said Tilla. “That is what I thought.” She put one of a pair of large gray uncle-style socks inside the other and said, “I shall go and take my cousin something to eat.”

“She already has something,” was the surprise reply. “She took a jar of honey in there with her.”

Clearly Aemilia was not planning to starve.

“How are you now, cousin?”

Aemilia eyed the forefinger she had just been licking. “Everyone is laughing at me.”

“No, they are not.”

“I am shamed.”

“You were deceived. Everybody knows you did not steal that ring. If you had, you would never have worn it in public.”

Aemilia sniffed. “I have been thinking about the ring,” she said. “I am sure Felix did not know it was stolen.”

Instead of saying, Yes, he did, that is why he asked you to keep it a secret, Tilla sat down on the bed and dipped a finger in the honey.

“Nobody will want me now.”

“Of course they will,” urged Tilla. “You are pretty and kind and friendly.” It was a pity she could not truthfully add “clever,” or “hardworking.” “Your da has a good business,” she said. “And he is building you a new house.”

“Yes!”

Surprisingly, it was the mention of the ridiculous house that seemed to cheer Aemilia. Tilla felt her cousin’s sticky fingers wrap around her arm.

“Once the rebels are dealt with-and Daddy says they will be, very soon-lots of people will want to live here. It will be safe to move out to the edge of town. But without Felix…” Her grip loosened.

“Last week,” she said, “we had a man turn up with a gang to make the heating tiles for the baths. We haven’t even got the foundations in yet. Felix said Daddy shouldn’t have sent them away because we were lucky to get them. But we weren’t ready for them. Daddy was worried about how much everything’s going to cost. And it’s even worse now because without Felix we don’t know who they are to get them back when we want them.”

“Did Felix make enemies, Aemilia?”

“All the girls were jealous of me.”

“They would be your enemies, not his. What about his business associates?”

She shook her head. “He had difficult customers, but he never bothered me with things like that. He said I took his mind away from his business problems.”

“Can you think of anything at all that could help Rianorix?”

Aemilia chewed a fingernail. “I didn’t mean this to happen,” she said. “But if he didn’t do it, they cannot hurt him, can they?”

This was hopeless. If anyone were going to help Rianorix-and it was very unlikely the medicus would do so now-Tilla would have to do it alone.

If only she had chosen to walk back to town that night.

“Once the rebels are got rid of and the house is all finished,” said Aemilia, “everything will be better.”

“Perhaps,” said Tilla, wondering what possible difference a house could make.

“We have most of the furniture, and I ordered the fabrics from the weaver last week. When it is finished, we shall invite your officer to dine every night.”

“He is not my officer.”

“He is truly fond of you, cousin. I saw how he looked at you.”

“He does not trust me.”

“It is a pity he is a doctor, so you will never know where he has been putting his hands, but he is an officer, and in a legion too! Do you know how much those officers are paid?”

“Not as much as they spend.”

“And he is rather good-looking, in a cross sort of way.”

Tilla shrugged. “Who cares?”

“You do,” said Aemilia, dipping her forefinger in the honey, raising it high in the air, and placing her open mouth beneath to intercept the thin stream of gold.