'So I've heard. Is that what she's hired you for?'
'Yes.'
'Then it's come to that, between her and Caelius. I've loved them both. The glittering Venus of Roman society, the petulant Adonis. Who could be surprised when the two of them decided to love each other and turn the country bumpkin from Verona out of their beds? Those two together, without me — that was more than I could stand.' The wine was beginning to slur his speech. 'It was better when her husband was still alive. Good old Quintus Metellus Celer, the stodgy goat. She was faithful to me then! But after Celer died, she became her own woman, and everyone else's woman as well. Even that was better than having her choose a favorite and shut me out altogether. But then she picked Caelius and I became just another of her multitude of used-up lovers. This tavern is full of the wretches. I could point out a dozen men who've had her. I thought a year away would dull the pain. But the wound still bleeds, and I still crave the knife that cut me.'
'She doesn't love Caelius anymore,' I said. 'He rejected her, as far as I can tell. She's bitter. She's determined to see him destroyed, obsessed with it, if that's any comfort to you.'
'Comfort? To know that another man truly got inside her, made her care enough to feel pain when he turned away, made her ache enough to want to destroy him? Me she dismissed with a flick of her wrist-no more scraps for the dog! Caelius deserts her and she goes crazy. Where's the comfort in that?'
'The desire for destruction is mutual, at least according to Lesbia. That's what the incident at the baths was about. Caelius's friend Licinius was there to deliver poison to some ofher slaves, because Caelius thought he could bribe them to murder their mistress.'
'Murder Clodia?' Catullus was startled enough, or drunk enough to forget the pseudonym. 'No, Caelius would never do that. I don't believe it.'
'She claims he tested the poison on a slave first, and watched the man die before his eyes.'
'I can believe that. Caelius could kill a slave without a twinge of guilt. But I can't believe that he would use the same poison on her.'
'Not even out of desperation? The charges against him are serious. He'll be ruined for life if he's found guilty. Humiliated, forgotten, exiled from Rome.'
'Exiled from Rome-I know that loneliness.' Catullus stared into his cup.
'To save himself, don't you believe that Caelius would destroy your Lesbia?'
'Destroy Lesbia? No, not her. Never.' 'Perhaps he never loved her quite as you did.'
'None of them ever loved her as I did.' Catullus stared bleakly into the crowd, then stiffened. 'Hades!' he whispered. 'Look who just came in.'
I squinted through the haze at three newcomers who stood near the entrance, searching the room for a place to sit. 'Marcus Caelius himself,' I said. 'Accompanied, if I'm not mistaken, by his friends Asicius and Licinius.'
Caelius saw Catullus. His face registered simple surprise, followed by a lightning flash of emotion. Then a mask fell into place, which lifted for only an instant to show his confusion when he saw me. He hesitated, then gestured for his companions to follow as he approached us.
'Catullus!' he said, flashing a sardonic grin. 'How long have you been back?'
'A few days.'
'And you haven't come to call on me? My feelings are hurt.'
'Actually, I did drop by your place,' said Catullus. 'Your old place. The neighbors said Clodius had kicked you out and put the building up for sale. They said I'd find you back at your father's hovel on the Quirinal
Hill.'
'You should drop by.' Caelius's smile never wavered.
'The Quirinal is a little out of my usual orbit. Besides, I shouldn't think that your father's house would be a suitable place for entertaining guests in your accustomed style.'
'I don't know what you mean.'
'The wine, the singing, the whores, the inventive sleeping arrangements. I can't see your papa approving.'
'All that's behind me now,' said Caelius.
'At least until after your trial. Then you may have to leave every-thing behind whether you want to or not.'
The mask almost cracked. 'I mean to say that I've seen fit to put aside some of the more boisterous habits of my youth, and to sever some of my more questionable associations. Perhaps you were right not to come calling on me after all, Catullus. One does have to hold to certain standards when inviting a guest into the house of one's father. It was thoughtful of you to spare me the embarrassment of shutting the door in your face.'
There was a long pause, during which Catullus swirled the dregs in his cup and watched them spin, pursing his lips thoughtfully. 'I think,' he finally said, in a hard, low voice that made me hold my breath, 'that for you to insult me in that way, Marcus Caelius-'
Caelius stiffened, as did his friends.
'For you to have insulted me in that fashion,' Catullus went on, 'by which I mean building an argument out of complicated sentences by logical steps-well, what I think about that, Marcus Caelius, is that you haven't drunk enough wine tonight!'
Caelius's face went blank, then he laughed. 'Not nearly enough. And for you to do such a sloppy job of insulting me, Gaius Catullus, I think you must have already had far too much to drink!'
'I can't argue with that,' said Catullus, grinning and swallowing the dregs.
'No matter,' said Caelius. 'The night's still young. Plenty of time for me to get stinking drunk, and for you to sober up.'
'I take it that you know my friend here, Gratidianus,' said Catullus.
'Gordianus,' I corrected him. 'Yes, Marcus Caelius and I are acquainted. We used to be neighbors.'
'And a few times our paths have crossed in the courts,' added Caelius. 'Though never quite as they are crossing now.'
I shrugged. 'I'm not sure I-'
'But isn't it true, Gordianus, that a certain lady has hired you, and not for the purpose that she usually hires men?'
'You aren't worthy of kissing her middle finger,' said Catullus, no longer friendly. 'You certainly aren't worthy of insulting her.'
Licinius, who had been peering at me, suddenly spoke up. 'Wait, now I remember where I've seen this man before. He was there today, at the baths, when I-'
'Shut up, Licinius,' growled Caelius.
'It isn't true, is it, Caelius?' Catullus leaned forward earnestly, his mood having shifted in the blink ofan eye. 'It isn't true, what Gratidianus tells me-you wouldn't actually do her harm, would you? Not to her. Not for any reason. And certainly not by — '
'Shut up, Catullus,' I said, clenching my teeth.
'Say, 1 recognize him, too!' Asicius stepped closer, peering at me. 'He's the one who was hiding in the shadows across the street from your old apartment on the Palatine, Caelius, on the night that we took care of the old-'
'Shut up, Asicius!' cried Caelius, loudly enough to startle the gamblers next to us. One of them scratched his throw, sending the dice flying onto the floor-a bad omen which caused some of the players to vacate the table at once, whereupon those who remained began to shout accusations of bad faith at the quitters.
Catullus stood, a little unsteadily. 'Are you looking for a place to sit, Caelius? Here, take my seat. The Salacious Tavern just became a little too salacious for even my tastes. Are you coming, Gratidianus?'
'Gordianus,' I said under my breath, getting to my feet. Asicius and Licinius shoved past me and sat on the bench. As I stepped by him, Caelius seized my arm and put his mouth to my ear. 'You're mistaken, you know. I didn't kill Dio, I swear.'
'That's only one of the charges against you, Marcus Caelius.'
He gripped my arm painfully hard and kept his voice low. 'But you're only concerned with Dio, aren't you? You want to put his spirit to rest, because you knew him in Alexandria back in the old days.' His handsome face was no longer nonchalant. A reckless, desperate man, Clodius had called him. I looked into his eyes and saw fear.
'How do you know these things, Marcus Caelius? How do you know about Dio and me, and about Clodia hiring
