memory of it made me shiver. It was not a face I would care to see again.
I was in time for dinner. Bethesda received my compliments on her ragout of lamb with lentils with a barely perceptible nod and commented that Diana had done most of the cooking.
A courier from Clodia arrived some time later, bearing the silver she had promised. She must have counted out the coins herself. They smelled faintly of her perfume.
As we prepared for bed, Bethesda asked me how my work was going. Suspecting that Diana had reported everything she had overheard me discussing with Eco, I gave as perfunctory an answer as I could without telling an untruth.
'And what did that woman want with you this afternoon?' she said, unbelting her stola.
'She wanted to hear what I had to report.' I said nothing about the alleged new poison plot or Clodia's scheme to send me to the Senian baths.
'That woman has sent you down the wrong path, you know.'
'The wrong path?'
'Going after Marcus Caelius.'
'But Bethesda, 'everybody knows' that Caelius is involved.'
Bethesda let the stola fall and stepped out of it, standing nude for a moment. 'You tease me by pretending that I would believe a thing simply because it's gossip. Why? Because I'm a woman? You're the one paying heed to gossip.' She reached for her sleeping gown and pulled it on. I tried to imagine her in a gown made of transparent silk from Cos. Bethesda saw the look on my face and softened a bit. 'You have no reason to suspect Caelius, only that woman's word for it. It would be a terrible thing for a young man to be punished for a crime he did not commit.'
'And if he did commit the crime?'
She shook her head and began to pull out the various pins and clasps that held her hair up. She sat down in front of her mirror at the little table that held her boxes of cosmetics and unguents, and began to brush her hair. She seemed a little surprised but made no protest when I took the brush and began to do it for her. Nor did she protest when I put down the brush and ran my hands over her shoulders, then bent down to press my lips to her throat.
We made love that night with a heat that staved off the chill in the room. I tried very hard not to think of Clodia. I might have succeeded had it not been for her perfume. It had permeated my clothing and my skin. It had gotten onto my hands from touching her silver and thus onto Bethesda. The smell was faint, elusive, insidious. As soon as I would forget about it, lost in the tangle of Bethesda's hair, there it would be again, filling my head and conjuring up images beyond my control.
The next morning Eco came by with news of the slave girl Zotica. The previous afternoon, while I had traversed the city in Clodia's litter, he had made his way to the Street of the Scythemakers and located the slave dealer.
'Zotica is no longer in Rome,' he said. 'The dealer claims he tried to place her in a rich man's household, figuring he could fetch the highest price by returning her to the type of place she came from. But apparently the marks on her body were a little more apparent than Coponius let on. Nobody wanted her for a serving girl or a handmaiden. The man ended up selling her to another dealer who specializes in pleasure slaves.'
'So she ended up in a brothel?'
'Maybe, but not in Rome. The second dealer hemmed and hawed and held out his hand for some coins and finally remembered that he had her sent with a consignment of slaves down to an establishment in Puteoli.'
'I'll repay you for the bribe, Eco. Meanwhile, what do you think it would cost to buy such a slave girl?' I produced the little bag of silver that Clodia had lent me.
'Considerably less than that,' said Eco. 'Where did it come from?'
I explained.
'Clodia is a sharp woman,' he said. 'More and more I long to meet her. If only my father didn't keep getting in the way.'
'Clodia could eat us both for breakfast, suck out the marrow and turn our knucklebones into dice without batting an eye.'
'That might be a memorable experience.'
'I advise you to stick with Menenia, and also to stick to the subject.'
'Then I'll say it again: Clodia is a sharp woman. It's a clever idea, trying to buy those slaves from under Lucceius's nose. Of course, a fellow could get killed trying to do something like that.'
'You needn't worry about it.'
'Papa, I was joking. Of course I'll go up to Picenum to see if I can find these slaves, and find out what they know. And if it's at all possible, I'll bring them back with me for the trial.'
'No, you won't.'
'Papa, you're not thinking of doing it yourself?' 'No.'
'Then it's up to me. I dread the saddle sores, but Menenia has a treatment for that which I'll look forward to.'
'No, Eco, you won't be going up to Picenum. But you can get just as saddle-sore riding down to Puteoli and back.'
'Puteoli? Papa, surely you don't want me to go chasing after Zotica instead of finding the kitchen slaves who may hold the key to everything? There's no way that I can do both. Picenum is north, Puteoli is south, and the trial starts in three days. I'll barely have time to get to either of those places and back. It's one or the other.'
'Yes. Well, then, it's Zotica.'
'Papa!'
'Eco, you must do as I ask.'
'Papa, you're letting sentiment cloud your judgment.' 'Sentiment has nothing to do with it.'
He shook his head. 'Papa, I know how your mind works. You think for some reason that it's up to you to redeem this slave girl. Very well — but there'll be plenty of time for that after the trial is over. Right now it's those two slaves up in Picenum that we need. That's a dubious enough prospect, given all the complications that could arise, but at least it makes sense. At least it wouldn't be a waste of my time.'
'So you think you'll be wasting your time if you go down to Puteoli to find Zotica and find out what she knows.'
'Yes, a terrible waste of time, considering how little we have. What could this Zotica possibly know about Dio's death?'
'Find her for me, Eco.' I placed the bag of silver in his hands. 'Here, I'll prove to you that sentiment has nothing to do with it. If the girl knows nothing, if she has nothing to tell us about who killed Dio, then don't bother to buy her. Leave her where she is. But if she does have something to say, buy her and bring her back with you.'
He bit his lips and tossed the bag from hand to hand. 'Not fair, Papa. You know that I'll buy her no matter what, to please you.'
'As you think best, Eco. Only I'd suggest that you get started. The days are still short, and you're missing the best hours for riding.'
In the afternoon a litter came for me, just as Clodia had said.
It was a considerably less conspicuous affair than her grand litter with its red and white canopy. This litter had plain woolen curtains and was just big enough for two people to sit face to face. Belbo joined the handful of bodyguards while I climbed into the box and sat opposite Chrysis, who stared back at me with an enigmatic smile on her face, idly coiling her auburn hair around a forefinger. I found myself thinking that she could not possibly be as young and naive as she looked. The litter rose in the air and began to move.
'So,' I said, 'exactly what is it that Clodia wishes me to do at the baths today?'
Chrysis stopped playing with her hair and ran the forefinger over her lips as if erasing her smile, leaving an even more enigmatic expression on her face. The gesture reminded me of her mistress.
'It's very simple. Almost nothing, really. You're to wait in the changing room. One of Clodia's men will find you.'
'How will I know him?'
'He'll know you.
