A Roman Ransom

by Rosemary Rowe

  ‘So no chance that Cassius is behind the ransom plot?’ I frowned. For a moment I’d thought I’d found the first plausible explanation for the whole affair. I was reluctant to abandon it.

  Gwellia shook her head. ‘Nor any of the household servants, either, husband, I’m afraid.’ She had been rearranging the covers over me, but now she turned towards me with a little smile. ‘I had been hoping to find out something useful of that kind for you – some loyal slave who might have taken risks on Lallius’s account – but I cannot find a single servant in the house who has anything but hatred and contempt for him. They think it is disgraceful that he stayed away when his father was so desperately ill. True, he had been banished from the house, but they sent a message to him in the jail before he was released. Of course, they didn’t know about the kidnapping, and no doubt the soldiers frightened him away. But there was almost a feeling of relief that he has not come home. Good riddance to him, seems to be the general attitude. I wonder if he’ll come back for the funeral, now that Numidius is dead.’

  ‘Dead?’ The word was startled out of me. ‘I didn’t know that he was dead. I knew that he was dangerously ill . . .’

  ‘Numidius died this morning, in the early hours. That is one reason why they let me in. They thought I was an anointing woman come to prepare the corpse. The servants were in quite a quandary what to do, in fact, since Lallius had not come home. Numidius would have wanted a Roman-style funeral, and it is properly the duty of the eldest son to close the eyes and start up the lament. So they’d sent out for the undertaker to arrange a pyre, and started the rituals themselves. The women did come round, a little afterwards, and I helped to wash the body and wrap it up in herbs and oil and lay it in the atrium on a bier. Quite pathetic, really. I don’t suppose there will be many visitors to mourn. Oh, don’t look at me like that – I’ve done the job before, and Numidius was not a lengthy task. The poor man had gone to skin and bone.’ She grinned. ‘Anyway, it was useful in the end. How do you suppose that I got past the soldiers and escaped the house?’

  ‘How did you?’ She clearly wanted to me to ask.

  ‘I simply walked out with the anointing women when they left. One ageing female with a basket looks very much like another, and I kept well to the middle of the group.’

  I found that I was grinning back. ‘Pretending to be someone else has been the theme of this affair. But I’m so relieved it worked for you. You are resourceful, Gwellia.’

  She was delighted by my praise, but all she said was, ‘Kurso was waiting at the workshop all this time. I knew that he would be concerned for me.’

  The mention of attendants raised a question in my mind. ‘Lallius didn’t have a personal slave at all?’ I said. ‘Someone who might have tried to ransom him? It has been known for some servants to be foolishly attached – even to the most unlikely men.’ I winked at Junio.

  This time she laughed aloud. ‘Well, he did have a servant, before he went to jail, but it seems that the slave took advantage of the imprisonment to throw himself on the mercy of the temple priests.’

  ‘Great Jupiter!’ I murmured, in genuine surprise. The punishment for a runaway is usually death, but there is one possible defence in law. If he can prove that his former owner was unnaturally cruel, he can appeal to another master who he hopes will be less unkind, pleading jeopardy in mitigation of his crime. But it is a desperate gamble, and not always justified.

  ‘No doubt he had the scars to prove his case – the other servants say that he was often cruelly whipped – because the priests found in his favour straight away and arranged to sell him on. So the boy is no longer in the town, and certainly he would not have worked to get his master free. Quite the contrary. The longer Lallius was locked up in jail, the more certain the slave was of escaping into sanctuary this time. Apparently he’d twice attempted to run away before, but his master dragged him back, and took delight in seeing he was punished savagely. Numidius rebuked Lallius for that as well, but the boy said he was only doing what Commodus did, and was his father going to criticise the Emperor? So Numidius was helpless. You know what would have happened if Lalllius had denounced him publicly?’

  I did. ‘This Lallius sounds a most unpleasant character,’ I said. ‘No wonder his father had no time for him.’

  Gwellia put down the oil lamp she was trimming, and came over to sit on Junio’s stool beside the bed. ‘That was probably the trouble, so the female servants say. The boy was never wanted from the start. His father blamed him for his mother’s death and would not even look at him for weeks. His wet nurse had to insist he came and picked him up.’

  I nodded. It was a ceremony in every Roman home, and signified acceptance into the family. Without it the child had no claim at all.

  ‘All his life it has been much the same,’ my wife went on. ‘That nurse seems to have been the only one who cared – she seemed genuinely to be quite fond of him – but Numidius dismissed her as soon as the boy was old enough to wean and brought in tutors to “make a man of him”. He never bothered with the child himself, except to criticise. He saw the boy was not in want, of course – in fact when the boy was young he was more than generous, as if in that way he was doing his duty by the child. Lallius has never wanted for a single thing – except a little human company. His father did give him a puppy once, but I think I told you what became of that. It was a little better with his horse – Lallius learned to ride before he learned to walk, and the servants say that was the only time they ever heard him laugh.’

  ‘You would make me feel almost sorry for the youth, if it were not for that murdered girl I told you of.’ I began to give her an edited account of the horrors we had found.

  She interrupted me. ‘I know,’ she said. ‘Old Smelly-boots was telling us. He gave us all the details. No wonder that poor woman was so terrified.’ She looked at me. ‘Husband, do you really want to question her about the death?’

  I shook my head. ‘She knew Myrna’s family, and that’s what interests me,’ I said. ‘I am quite sure that they were involved in this kidnapping somehow, and for some reason they seem to have wanted to suggest that it was me.’ I shook my head. ‘I still cannot understand it. To the best of my knowledge I’ve never spoken to the girl. Or to the mother either. Not even to buy her herbal remedies. I always get mine from the kindling-seller’s wife.’

  It was Junio who spoke up from his post beside the door. ‘Don’t forget the doctor had a hand in all this, as well. Perhaps he had some dealing with the mother, over herbs.’

  Gwellia stared at him. ‘The medicus? Oh, Junio, don’t be so absurd. The physician is a very clever man. He saved your master’s life, I’m sure of it, and . . .’ She trailed into silence as she saw my face. ‘Husband, surely you don’t believe what Junio says?’

  ‘There was something odd about the doctor from the start,’ I said. ‘He was so secretive – and he clearly hated me. Because he knew I was suspicious, I believe. And now that he has disappeared without a word, I am more than ever sure that I was right.’

  Gwellia was still frowning. ‘Disappeared? I thought that he had simply changed his mind about the charge.’

  ‘He left here without warning and never said a word,’ I replied. ‘Took all his books and scrolls and simply fled – and at the same time another ransom note turned up. Does that sound like a mere coincidence? The steward has sent the cart out after him, but I’m afraid he’ll get away. And we don’t even know where he was going.’

  Gwellia stared. ‘But I do,’ she said, unexpectedly. ‘He took the carriage that had brought me back from town. He went back to Glevum in it.’

  She must have seen my startled face. ‘You hired a carriage back?’

  ‘I’m sorry, husband. I know it was extravagant, but I was still worried about your state of health, especially since they wouldn’t let me come here yesterday. I could have had a litter, but there was Kurso too, and it was cheaper just to take a hiring-coach. Fortunately I had a little money with me. The d
river had just dropped me at the roundhouse gate, and I was having an argument with the soldier – as I told you earlier – when the medicus came scuttling down the lane. He was hot and breathless, and when he saw the carriage he called out to it – said he was wanted urgently in town. The last I saw of him, he was climbing into it and swearing at the driver to be quick.’

  I pushed the covers back and swung my feet on to the ground. ‘Then I must speak to Marcus urgently,’ I said. ‘I know he’s busy and he hasn’t summoned me, but we must find out who owns that carriage and ask questions of the man.’

  Junio stepped obediently forward with my sandals ready to kneel down and face them on my feet. Gwellia rose too, as though to order him away and insist that I lie down on the bed again, but I forestalled her with a gesture of my hand. A sudden inspiration had just come to me.

  ‘Wait!’ I said. ‘I think I know who owns it. Great Minerva! How could I be such an idiot? I have had the answer all along. That woman with the children. She told us that Myrna’s sister had taken all the carts her father built as a dowry when she wed – to a man who owned a little business on this side of town. Was it a hiring-stables, do you think?’

  Chapter Twenty-six

  Everyone was staring at me. Cilla, Porphyllia, my wife, and Junio who was kneeling at my feet by now. Even little Kurso, whom I now perceived loitering timidly in the rain outside the door, had obviously been listening and was watching goggle-eyed.

  ‘Don’t you see?’ I said. ‘This is the part of the pattern that was missing up till now. When Julia went out visiting that day, she didn’t take a carriage of her own, because it had taken Marcus to the ordo meeting in the town. We know she sent out for a hiring-coach. And Myrna, of course, knew someone who would serve them beautifully! I wondered how the coachman noticed nothing when the kidnapping took place. But the answer is more simple than I thought. He was a part of the whole conspiracy. And now he has contrived to pick the doctor up, as well. We need to find out where these stables are, and bring this man in as soon as possible.’

  ‘Well, I can tell you where it is,’ my wife remarked. ‘I picked up the carriage at the gates, of course, where it was waiting for custom as they always do, but the driver pointed out the stables as we passed. It is a little off the military road, a mile or so this side of Glevum – just before the terratorium begins. I could show you, if you were only well enough to walk that far. It is not difficult to find.’

  I nodded. ‘I think I’ve seen the signs for it.’ I was not given to hiring vehicles myself, but I thought I knew the place she was referring to. Almost all the farmland bordering the main road on this side of the town had been purchased or appropriated by the state to supply the army with its food (the territorium that Gwellia had spoken of), but up the ancient tracks there were still areas – more infertile or less convenient – which the former owners had managed to retain. I recalled a sort of placard at the side of such a lane – an inexpert picture of a horse and cart, and a finger pointing to a gaggle of buildings up behind an inn. ‘It must be a successful enterprise, if the likes of Julia hired a coach from them,’ I said.

  ‘It’s the biggest hiring-stables in the area, or so that driver boasted. They’ve got everything from carts to carriages – or if you want an animal to ride, they rent out those as well. They’ve even got a handcart you can hire.’

  I stretched out my other foot to Junio, who latched the second sandal on then helped me to my feet. A few moments earlier I had been weak and faint, but now I was buoyed up by sudden hope. Of course Marcus would not be in his most forgiving mood; the arrival of the ransom note alone would see to that. But now that the doctor had abruptly disappeared. I was no longer under threat – unless my patron chose to accuse and charge me on his own account. Of course, with the so-called evidence against me, that was always possible, but I would take a chance on that. I had been promised a day or two to prove my innocence. ‘If Marcus will take me to those stables unannounced, I am confident that we will find the doctor on the premises,’ I said.

  ‘And Lallius?’ my slave said hopefully. He had finished with my sandal strips by now. ‘And possibly even Julia as well?’

  ‘Perhaps,’ I answered shortly. The truth was that I really did not know. I was certain that Philades and Lallius were linked somehow, but I still could not see what the connection was, or how Myrna and her family had got caught up in it. However, I hoped that we would soon find out. I saw the cup of mead that Junio had brought, which was now cooling rapidly on the chest beside the door. I gestured to Cilla that she should give it me.

  ‘Master, it will be cold by now.’ Junio almost let go of my arm. ‘If you want a drink of mead, I’ll get a proper one. Or Kurso can. The kitchens know exactly how to do it right, by now.’

  I nodded. ‘Kurso can go and fetch me one,’ I said, but I drained the goblet before I gave it back. Even tepid mead is better than no mead at all, and as usual it seemed to give me energy. It gave me courage too. ‘You can take me to see Marcus in the atrium, and the girls can stay here and attend my wife.’

  Gwellia snorted, ‘Husband, of course I am subject to your will, but I remind you that you have been ill. My place is close beside you in such circumstances, and if you are going to see your patron I am coming too. Besides,’ she went on in a gentler tone, ‘if you want to tell him about the hiring-carriages, perhaps I am the one with most to tell.’

  I was about to reply that, in his present mood, Marcus was unlikely to be sympathetic to a delegation of that kind, but she forestalled me with a hand upon my arm.

  ‘Husband, I have been kept away from you for what seems like days. Please allow me to accompany you now.’

  There was an expression in her tone and eyes which I could not resist. I sighed. ‘Oh, very well,’ I muttered, not very graciously. I was afraid that Marcus might be very cross by now, and I wanted to protect her from his wrath.

  Gwellia had more practical considerations in mind. ‘Here, wait. It’s raining in the court. You can’t go out like that.’ She picked up the battered leather bag – the one which had been missing from the roundhouse earlier, and which she had obviously taken with her into town. She opened it and pulled out a length of cloth. ‘I brought your toga with me – I’d had it at the fuller’s while you were so ill. Here, wrap it round you; it will help to keep you warm. And I’ve brought you a proper cloak, as well. A plaid one which I wove while you were sick. I meant it as a surprise for you when you were well again, but I can’t think of a better moment than the present one.’

  Junio was grinning like a maniac, but he wound my toga round me and arranged its folds, and when he’d finished Gwellia draped the cloak.

  It look a little while, but my wife was right. The toga made me feel more like a man again, and home-made cloth was warm and comforting, without the weight of Aulus’s heavy cloak. ‘Thank you, Gwellia,’ I said, and met her eyes. No words were spoken, but a great deal was said, and I went out into the courtyard warmed by more than plaid.

  I was glad of my small procession when we reached the atrium. I was in the lead, on Junio’s arm, with my wife a formal step or two behind, and the two female attendants bringing up the rear. The folding door which led into the atrium was shut, and Maximus and Minimus were standing guard outside. They looked at us apprehensively.

  ‘The master is much occupied . . .’ the older one began.

  ‘He told us he was not to be disturbed . . .’

  ‘And he’s in a dreadful mood,’ Maximus observed. ‘With that note and everything. He’s – uh – got a flask of wine in there, as well. And he insists on pouring it himself.’

  ‘He will want to see me, and hear what I have got to say,’ I said, in my most formal voice, trying to convince myself that this was the case.

  Maximus looked uncomfortable and shifted on his feet, ‘Of course, citizen, if you command, we will go in and tell him you are here. Only, when the steward came, a little while ago . . .’ he began, and paused. He was obviously nervous
about saying any more, but his colleague interrupted in a rush.

  ‘The master was so angry, you could hear him shout from here. Threatened to have him whipped – the senior slave!’ He looked at me. ‘So, be very careful, citizen. That ransom note disturbed him terribly.’

  I nodded. ‘Tell him I have news about the doctor’s whereabouts,’ I said. ‘And an idea that might lead us to where Julia is, as well.’ That was an overstatement, I was well aware, but I could think of nothing that was more likely to win my patron’s ear.

  I was right. Minimus departed, with another furtive glance, but he was quickly back again. He looked relieved. ‘The master will see you straight away,’ he said, and pulled the door ajar.

  Marcus was sitting in his accustomed wicker chair. There was a jug of wine beside him, and from his flushed face and dishevelled air, it looked as though he’d emptied most of it. There was no sign of Pulcrus, but to my surprise the slave-trader was still in evidence.

  He was a swarthy fellow in a rust-coloured tunic with a sort of greenish turban round his head, and had obviously been exhibiting his wares: not only the chubby female, who was standing naked in the centre of the room with her hands tied behind her so that her professional attributes were distinctly on display, but also several lengths of costly coloured silk – crimson, yellow, pink, emerald and blue – which had been laid out like rivers of vibrant colour on the floor. Silken treasures to take your breath away. Literally treasures – such fabrics were worth three times their weight in gold, if you were able to lay hands on them.