gave a cry. Some of the slaves came running; but when they arrived, they kept their distance. They were afraid of her, you see-more afraid of her than of me! I could hardly blame them. Her back was arched, and her head was thrown back. Her eyes were wide open but showed only white. She trembled and shuddered and pitched her head about as if her neck had snapped, but she never loosened her grip on my arm.'
'Did she speak?'
'Oh, yes. She babbled nonsense for a while…'
'What sort of nonsense?'
Antonia raised an eyebrow. 'Why are you so keen to know, Finder? And how is it that you don't know already? You buried her. Weren't you in league with her?'
'In league with her? How do you mean?'
'Surely you know more about her than I do. Why do you think I've allowed you into my house? Because I thought you could tell me what Cassandra was really up to. Did she put on those performances merely to ingratiate herself, to obtain a bit of food when she was hungry, perhaps a few coins or some cast-off clothing? Did she think she might find a permanent patron, someone who would keep her indefinitely, so long as she kept uttering that mindless drivel? Or was it more sinister than that? Was she deliberately worming her way into this household and that, looking for things to steal? You always have to watch that sort; I knew better than to leave her alone even for a moment! Or perhaps she was looking for information she could use to her advantage. I can imagine her more credulous victims-Cicero's wife comes immediately to mind-opening up to her and spilling all sorts of embarrassing secrets, secrets that could be used against others later. Was that it? Was Cassandra a black mailer?'
I thought about this. 'I don't know. Did she try to black mail you?'
'No. But I wasn't so foolish as to tell her anything I didn't want her to know.'
'How are you so certain that she was merely putting on a performance?'
Antonia sighed. 'You really don't know? Then I suppose I'll tell you. After she finished her 'prophesying'-after I threw her out-I decided to have her followed. I have a fellow who's very good at that. I didn't expect him to discover anything useful. I thought she'd simply go back to the wharf where I'd found her or to some hovel in the Subura, or wherever such creatures come from. But instead she headed for the neighborhood past the Circus Maximus. You know the sort of riffraff who live around there-actors, mimes, chariot racers, acrobats. When Cassandra arrived at her destination, my man recognized the place at once. How many times had he followed my husband to the very same house?'
'Cassandra went directly from your house… to the house of Cytheris?'
'Exactly. I'm told it's quite a nice little place. Her former master Volumnius bought it for her when he made her a freedwoman-a sort of parting gift for many services rendered, I have no doubt. You know why he freed her? It was at Antony's request-a sort of goodwill gesture by which Volumnius hoped to ingratiate himself with Caesar's chief lieutenant. To save face, Volumnius put it about that he'd had his fill of the little whore and didn't mind passing her on to Antony. But I know he was peeved. Well, if he wasn't yet ready to let go of her, he was a fool to show her off at that party where Antony met her. They say Cytheris learned all sorts of ways to please a man- things no respectable woman would consider doing-back in Alexandria where she comes from. That's where her first master, the one before Volumnius, taught her to be an actress. Oh, I call her an actress, but of course women aren't allowed to perform in legitimate plays, only in mime shows, and that's hardly acting, is it? Just a lot of buffoonery and half-naked dancing and declaiming lewd poems. The sort of vulgar nonsense Antony adores!'
'You were saying that Cassandra went to the house of Cytheris…'
'Exactly! Now what sort of coincidence could that be? Immediately after seeing Antony's wife, Cassandra pays a visit to Antony's mistress. Or should I say, 'reports' to Antony's mistress.'
'Perhaps she was calling on someone else in Cytheris's household.'
'No. My man managed to climb onto the roof of the neighboring house, where he could see down into Cytheris's garden. He'd done that before as well, keeping an eye on Antony for me. He saw Cytheris greet Cassandra as if they were old friends. Then they sat and shared wine together and talked for a long time.'
'About what?'
'My man wasn't able to hear. They were too far away and kept their voices low. But he heard them laugh occasionally-at me, I have no doubt! Well, I'd sent the bitch away without paying her a sesterce, and I'd told her nothing she could use to embarrass me, so I'm afraid I spoiled whatever scheme those two were hatching against me.'
'You think Cassandra was somehow in league with Cytheris?'
'Of course! Don't you see? They're both actresses! That must be how they know each other. They probably met while performing together in some wretched mime show somewhere between here and Alexandria. Ambitious little ferrets! Cytheris managed to get herself nicely set up, thanks to Volumnius and my husband. Meanwhile, Cassandra got herself invited into the best homes in Rome by putting on a mime show of her own, pretending to utter prophecies while falling under some god's spell, all the while working who knows what sort of mischief. Whoever killed her did the decent people of Rome a great favor. That's why I went to her funeral-to see her burn! If only someone would do the same to that accursed Cytheris so that I could have the pleasure of watching the flames devour her carcass!'
In a burst of fury, she threw her cup across the garden. A hapless peacock shrieked and skittered away.
'I understand why you despise Cytheris,' I said. 'But what did Cassandra do to make you hate her so? What was the prophecy she spoke to you?'
Antonia glared at me. 'For the last time, it wasn't a prophecy; it was a performance. But if you must know- very well, I'll tell you. For quite a while she rolled her eyes and jerked and muttered a lot of unintelligible noises. Then, gradually, I could make out words. Oh, Cassandra was very good! She made you listen hard to hear her, all the better to convince you that it must be something very special she was uttering. She said…'
Antonia stared into space and hesitated so long that I thought she had decided not to tell me. Finally she cleared her throat and went on. 'She said she saw a lion and a lioness and their young cub dwelling in a cave. There was a terrible storm raging, but inside the cave all was warm and dry and safe. Eventually, despite the storm, the lion went off to forage. He found a gazelle, such a beautiful, graceful creature that, instead of attacking the gazelle, he mated with it. To get back at him, the lioness invited another lion into her cave and mated with him. But that lion already had a mate, and he soon left her. And her original mate was so happy gamboling about the countryside with his gazelle that he never returned. So in the end, the lioness was left alone… forever. Except for her cub, of course…'
At that moment the screaming young girl reappeared, dressed in a tunica now, but in the same bad humor. She ran across the garden to her mother, let out an ear-piercing scream, and threw her hands around Antonia's waist. Antonia tensed every muscle. Such a look of mingled fury and despair crossed her face that for a moment I feared she might strike the child. Instead, she took a deep breath and put her arms around the little girl, squeezing so tightly that the child struggled to pull free and finally did so, running back the way she had come, scattering peacocks in her wake and streaking past the overwhelmed nurse in the doorway.
Antonia stared after the child. Her face hardened. 'As long as she was making it all up, why tell me things to confirm my own worst fears? Why not make up lies to please me? For a happy vision of the future, I might have given her a few coins and sent her on her way and forgotten all about her. No, she put on that little performance deliberately to torment me, and afterward she went running to her friend Cytheris, and the two of them had a good laugh at my expense. I'm glad she's dead! If someone else hadn't done it, I might have murdered her myself.'
IX
The fourth time I saw Cassandra was on the day Marcus Caelius made his boldest-and last-appearance in the Forum.
Obedient to Bethesda's wishes-and leery myself of the violence that had been erupting-I avoided going to the Forum for almost a month following the riot that broke out after the consul Isauricus broke Caelius's chair of state. I whiled away the month of Aprilis in my garden, worrying over the ever-increasing debts I owed to Volumnius the banker, unable to see a way to continue feeding my family without going even further into debt.
All my life I had avoided becoming a debtor. I had even managed to accumulate a modest amount of savings,
