Vespasian had to suppress a gasp.
Sabinus jumped to his feet and recoiled back.
Antonia had not exaggerated: she was beautiful. Her eyes were the green of a newly sprouted leaf in spring and her lips and hair were the colour of that same leaf in autumn. Like her brother she had pale skin but, whereas his was pallid, hers glowed with a soft sheen that spoke of tender nights full of warm caresses. Like her brother she had a thin face but, whereas his was pinched, hers was delicate and fine boned with a slender nose and a full mouth that demanded to be kissed.
‘Titus Flavius Sabinus,’ Clemens said, walking over to her and taking her hand. ‘May I present my sister: Arrecina Clementina.’
‘Lady, I am honoured,’ Sabinus almost whispered.
‘It is you that do me honour, sir.’ Clementina’s voice was soft and melodious. She reached into the folds of her palla and brought out a small ivory statuette. Placing it in Sabinus’ hand, she lowered her head and waited for the gift, and therefore her, to be accepted. He lifted it and smiled as he recognised the carving: Mithras slaughtering a bull.
‘Thank you, Clementina, I accept this gift in token of our forthcoming marriage,’ he said, all doubts evaporated.
‘I look forward to learning about your god,’ Clemintina said sweetly, meeting his eyes.
‘I’m sorry that I have nothing for you,’ he replied, quickly changing the subject, Mithraism not being at all inclusive of women, ‘but I have been taken slightly by surprise.’
Vespasian swallowed a laugh; it was one of the biggest understatements that he had ever heard.
‘But a happy surprise, I hope,’ Clemens said to cover any embarrassment. ‘I will escort you home, sister. Senator Pollo, I shall come to your house tomorrow to discuss the dowry and the terms and time of the marriage.’
‘It will be my pleasure, Clemens,’ Gaius replied.
Clemens took his future brother-in-law by the forearm. ‘I shall be delighted to have you for a brother, Sabinus.’ Sabinus mumbled something positive, unable to take his eyes off his future wife.
‘Domina, thank you for the evening,’ Clemens said, bowing his head to Antonia. ‘Gentlemen, I wish you all goodnight.’
With that he led his sister from the room; Pallas followed, to see them to the litter. Sabinus stood motionless, staring at the closed door. Gaius and Antonia shared a smile as Caligula and Vespasian looked at each other incredulously.
Caligula was the first to recover. ‘Jupiter’s balls, why haven’t I had-’
‘Gaius, my dear,’ Antonia cut in sharply, ruffling his hair again, ‘none of your smut.’
Caligula excused himself from the table soon after, muttering something about a headache. Judging by the speed with which he left the room Vespasian had no doubt that the ache was in another part of his anatomy and he was off to ease it with one, or maybe a few, of his grandmother’s many house slaves.
Since Clemens’ departure with his sister, the talk had been of Sabinus’ good fortune in having such a beautiful young bride. Sabinus himself was drinking deeply at each toast and had started to slur his words. Vespasian knew that he should bring up the subject of the scroll found on the dead Geta before his brother passed into oblivion brought on by a surfeit of anticipated matrimonial bliss. He had an instinct that as few people as possible should know its contents; with Caligula now otherwise engaged the time seemed right.
‘Domina,’ he said as they lowered their cups from yet another toast to the newly engaged couple, ‘there’s a matter that I think I should bring to your attention, sooner rather than later.’
‘By all means,’ Antonia replied, her voice steady, having drunk very little and then only of well-watered wine.
He turned to Pallas, who had returned to his position by the door. ‘Pallas, would you call for Magnus to bring the scroll? He’ll know what you mean.’
‘Yes, master.’ Pallas slipped out briefly to send the message and then resumed his place.
Whilst they awaited Magnus’ arrival Vespasian recounted the circumstances in which they had found the scroll and what it contained; then Sabinus, who seemed to have sobered up slightly, explained his theory as to how Claudius might be using Boter as an expendable shield.
When they had finished Antonia shook her head. ‘That sounds far too subtle for my son; he’s never been anything other than an idiot.’
Vespasian cast a sidelong glance at Pallas who, despite what he had said on the subject earlier that day, showed no sign of disagreeing with his mistress. He did think, however, that he saw the faintest flicker of interest in the steward’s eyes.
‘With respect, domina,’ Gaius said, ‘you look down on Claudius because compared with his late elder brother, the great Germanicus, he is physically such a disappointment to you; but it may be that underneath that crude exterior some of your brains and subtlety may still exist.’
Antonia scowled. ‘Brains and subtlety in that runt? Never! He’s probably just writing to Poppaeus to ask him if he can borrow some obscure books from his library and it amuses his childish sense of intrigue to have it written in code.’
‘But a code needs the recipient to have the key,’ Vespasian pointed out. ‘It would seem a bit extreme to go to all that effort just to talk about books, however obscure.’
‘Well, we’ll find out soon enough,’ Antonia said as a scratching came from the other side of the door.
Pallas let in a rather florid-looking Magnus. He had evidently been partaking rather too liberally of Antonia’s wine after his exertions earlier on that evening, Vespasian mused with a slight grin.
‘Good evening, domina, gentlemen,’ Magnus mumbled from the doorway, unable to meet anyone’s eye.
‘Thank you, Magnus,’ Antonia said. ‘Leave the scroll with Pallas. Your party will be staying here for the night; Pallas will send someone to show you to a room later. That’ll be all — for now.’
Magnus nodded wearily and left.
Antonia looked at Pallas. ‘Do you think that you could break this code?’
‘I would hope so, domina,’ Pallas replied, perusing the scroll. ‘I’m well acquainted with another of your son’s freedmen, his secretary, Narcissus, a man of far greater intelligence than this Boter; we’ve had numerous conversations about codes and ciphers and have shared ideas on how best to construct them. I’m sure that if the code was written by Boter then it would be one that he got from Narcissus. Give me a little time and I’ll be able to find the key. I need something to write with — please excuse me, I won’t be long.’ He slipped quietly out of the room.
As they waited for Pallas, making small talk, Vespasian felt a thrill of excitement as he contemplated the possibility of a whole night with Caenis. It was more than he had expected and he felt sure that Antonia had done it purposefully, even if it did appear that she had an ulterior motive; but then a woman in her position could always get what she wanted without having to worry about the happiness of the likes of him, let alone one of her slaves. She must indeed be very fond of Caenis.
A couple of cups of wine later Pallas returned brandishing a wax tablet. ‘It’s done, domina,’ he announced. ‘It’s a substitution cipher such as Caesar used, but with a rolling shift, based on the number twelve. So the first letter you shift by one, so A becomes B; then the second by two, so A becomes C; the third by three and so on up to twelve. Then you start again but this time you shift the next letter by two, the next by four, then six, eight, ten, twelve. Then you continue with the next letter shifted by three, then six, nine, twelve. Then you do fours, then sixes and then twelve itself, after which you start again with one and so on. Very simple really.’
‘Very good, Pallas.’ Antonia looked as baffled as everyone else around the table. ‘So what does it say?’
Pallas cleared his throat and began to read aloud.
‘“I send my greetings” etc., etc.; then:
‘As you are aware, my master has an agreement with your mutual friend that he will support my master as and when the time comes. However, my master now feels that once he has achieved his aim that friend will move to eliminate him and take his place through a familial right. In order to counter this, my master proposes to free himself immediately he has gained his rightful position and thereby cut the tie to the friend and therefore any legitimate rights he may have. In place of what he loses my master would take what is dearest to you, bonding himself with you, in order to still be able to expect your support, with its full force, at the appropriate time. He realises that certain arrangements would need to be made in advance and suggests that you make them sooner
