when my father betrothed me to cousin Quintus,' she said glumly.
'And now that you're a widow, do you still bring suitors here?'
Clodia laughed. 'What an absurd idea. Why do you ask?'
'Something Chrysis said as I was leaving the litter.'
'Naughty Chrysis. She was teasing you, I'm sure. Oh, I suppose the gossips say such things about me-'Clodia meets her lovers at midnight in the Claudian graveyard! She drags the young men into the sepulchers and deflowers them while her ancestors gasp in shame!' But these days I really much prefer a couch and pillows. Don't you?' She stood sideways and turned her face to look at me straight on. The reflected sunlight seemed to turn her stola to a thin mist that clung to her naked flesh and could have been dispelled with a puff of breath.
I looked away, and found myself nose to nose with a stately bas-relief of a horse's head, the ancient symbol of death. Death as departure; death as something more powerful than man. 'You were going to explain this talk of poison.'
She sat on the bench, using her cape for a cushion. 'Marcus Caelius is plotting to murder me before the trial.'
She allowed this statement to reverberate for a moment, then went on. 'He knows that I have evidence. He knows that I'm planning to testify against him. He wants me dead, and if he had his way, I'd be joining the shades of my ancestors before sundown tomorrow. Fortunately, the slaves whom Caelius thought he could seduce have remained loyal to me, and have informed me of his plot.'
'What plot?'
'This very morning Caelius obtained the poison he plans to use. He bought a slave to test it on. The wretched man died in horrible agony while Caelius watched. It took only moments. Caelius wanted a quick-acting poison, you see, and had to make sure it would do the job.'
'How do you know this?'
'Because I have spies in Caelius's house, of course. Just as he thinks he has spies in mine.' She stood up and began to pace. 'This was his plot: to have a friend of his meet some of my slaves tomorrow afternoon at the Senian baths and hand over the poison to them, whereupon they would bring the poison home and Chrysis would put it into my food. His agent approached the slaves yesterday, including Chrysis. The slaves pretended to agree, but instead they came to me and told me everything.'
'What made Caelius think he could suborn your slaves?'
'Marcus Caelius used to be a welcome guest in my home. He got to know some of the slaves, including Chrysis, rather well-well enough, I suppose, that he thought he could sway them with promises of silver and freedom if they would help him murder their mistress. He under-estimated their loyalty to me.'
I stared at her, trying to decide whether I should believe her, and found myself studying the shape of her body instead. I shook my head. 'So the plot has been uncovered. You've nipped it in the bud. Why all this secrecy? Why tell me about it at all?'
'Because Marcus Caelius doesn't know that his plot has been spoiled. He thinks my slaves have agreed to follow his orders. He still plans to go through with it. Tomorrow afternoon, his agent will arrive at the Senian baths, carrying the little box of poison. My slaves will be there to receive it from him — along with witnesses. We shall seize the poison, expose the agent, produce the evidence in court, and add another count of attempted murder to the charges against Marcus Caelius.'
'And you want me to be there?' I said.
She drew close to me. 'Yes, to help seize the poison. To witness everything that happens.'
'Are you so sure you can trust your slaves, Clodia?' 'Of course.'
'Perhaps they're not telling you everything.'
'We all have to trust our slaves in the end, don't we?'
'Then why have you brought me here, away from your house, away from your bodyguards and litter bearers, where even Chrysis can't hear?'
She lowered her eyes. 'You see through me. Yes, I can't be certain. No one can ever be certain of anything in this world. Yes, I'm a little frightened-even of my slaves. But for some reason I trust you, Gordianus. I imagine you've been told that before.'
With her head bowed and her eyes lowered, I noticed the remarkable line of her eyebrows, like the wings of a bird in flight. Then she turned her face up and all I could see were her deep, luminous green eyes.
'Clodia, you asked me to find evidence that Marcus Caelius tried to kill Dio. Whether you're pursuing this matter for the sake of justice, or for political gain, or simply to hurt Caelius, I don't know, nor do I really care. I agreed to take part for one reason: to do what I can to put Dio's shade at rest. This warfare between yourself and Caelius-broken love affair, festering hatred, whatever-is of no concern to me.'
She stepped even closer and looked steadily into my eyes. I felt the heat of her body, as I had felt it in the litter. Her eyes seemed impossibly huge. 'Love and hatred have nothing to do with it. Don't you see, Gordianus, it's all tied to Dio's murder. That's why Caelius wants to kill me, not because I loved him once and don't anymore, but because I'm trying to prove what he did to Dio. That's why I want you to go to the Senian baths tomorrow, to help foil his plot against me and expose it for all of Rome to see. This is all a part of the case against Caelius, which is the only way to bring Dio's killer to justice.'
I stepped back from her. 'The Senian baths,' I said ruefully. 'I suppose I could do with a hot plunge. At what time?'
A smile barely registered on her lips. 'I'll send a litter to take you there tomorrow afternoon. Chrysis will go along, to give you more details on the way.' She picked up her cape and handed it to me, then turned so that I could drape it over her shoulders. She leaned back, barely pressing her body against mine. 'Oh, and tonight I'll send over the silver you may be needing.'
'Silver for what?'
'To buy those two kitchen slaves of Lucceius's, of course, the ones who took part in the plot against Dio. That is, if you're able to track them down. You'll need ready silver if you're to buy them from under the nose of Lucceius's foreman at that mine up north, or bribe him into letting you have them. How much silver do you think that would take? Well, let me know before we part, and I'll send it to you to-night.'
'I'll send back a receipt with the same courier,' I said.
She pulled the cape about her neck and smiled. 'No need for that. I'm sure you'll return any silver that's still unspent after the trial. You see, Gordianus, I really do trust you.'
'Would you mind if we took a little side trip?' said Clodia, when we were back in the box and aloft.
'As long as I'm back in time for my dinner,' I said, thinking of Bethesda.
'It will take only a few moments. I have an urge to go up on the Capitoline, just to take in the view. The air is so clear today, and the sun will be setting in the west.' She nodded to Chrysis, who stuck her head out of the curtains and gave instructions to the chief of the litter bearers.
We passed back through the vegetable and cattle markets, crossed the valley between the Palatine and Capitoline hills, and entered the Forum. The day was waning, but a glimpse outside showed me that the squares were still thronged with men in togas going about their business. I appreciated the privacy of a closed litter-how else could a man cross the busiest spot in Rome side by side with a scandalous woman, without anyone seeing him?
Clodia's entourage did not go unnoticed, however. At one point we crossed paths with some of Milo's gang, who must have recognized the distinctive red and white striped curtains of the box.
'Bring out the whore!' one of them shouted. 'Are you in there with her, Clodius?'
'Wet the bed again and gone running to your big sister?' 'She'll kiss it and make it all better!' 'Or bigger!'
There was a sudden jolt as the litter came to a halt. From outside we heard more obscene taunts, then the sounds of a skirmish. The moment had a peculiar, nightmarish quality; inside the box we were hidden, but also blind to the outside world, so that the obscenities seemed to come from disembodied voices and the scuffling noises were all the more alarming, their causes unseen. I heard the slither of steel pulled from scabbards, then more shouts. Beside me Clodia's body seemed to radiate heat. I glanced at her face, which remained expressionless. I thought I saw her ears turn red, but it might have been a trick of the light within the box.
The litter began to move again, then abruptly stopped.
'Turn it over!' someone shouted.
'Make a bonfire of the bitch!'
