‘I have a
‘You see? I knew you would be upset!’
‘A tendency to over-dramatize,’ he repeated, deliberately keeping his voice under control. ‘What else did you say?’
‘Nothing. I didn’t even know Severus was here until after he — until it was too late. Then I just asked Galla to make him look presentable for the family.’
‘Right.’
He sensed her movement as she straightened up beside him. ‘I only did it to help. I didn’t mean to make you cross.’ She sniffed again. ‘I know you’ve never approved of me, Gaius.’
‘I — what?’ He did not want to discuss this now. Or indeed, ever.
‘I know everyone thought I only married your father for his money.’
Ruso cleared his throat. ‘That was all a long time ago.’
‘I did my best, you know. It wasn’t my fault I could never be your mother.’ She wiped away tears with her forefinger, crinkling the skin beneath her eyes. ‘If you could try to like me just a little bit, Gaius — ’
Ruso cleared his throat again.
‘All this will blow over,’ he assured her, feeling the graze on his elbow stretch as he tightened his arm around her. ‘We’ll find a way to sort out the money, Lucius will bring Cass home, the investigators will find out we didn’t poison Severus, and in a few weeks it’ll all be forgotten.’
‘Really?’
‘Really,’ he assured her, ignoring the voices in his head that were demanding to know how all this was going to happen, and pointing out that he should have told her about Marcia’s gladiator.
‘And you’ll be nice to Lollia and Diphilus tonight, won’t you?’
Ruso, who had forgotten all about the wretched dinner, managed a grunt of assent.
‘Goodness knows what we’ll eat: some of the traders have been very tiresome. I wish these people would keep proper records. Of course Lucius has paid their accounts. Anyway, Cook says he’s found some oysters, and there’s enough here to manage. Now, the next thing is entertainment. If the girls do some practice perhaps they could — ’
‘Do they ever do any practice?’
She paused for a moment. ‘No. Perhaps we’d better just talk to each other. Seating is going to be awkward with an even number of diners, but I’m going to put you with Lollia at one corner, and then Diphilus and me at the other, and the girls …’
Ruso made an effort to care and failed. He would wait till after the dinner guests had gone and then tell her about Marcia.
Arria leaned her head against his shoulder. ‘I am glad you’re home, Gaius. I’m sorry you were let down by that girl. What did you call her? Tilla?’
‘At least she and Cass are together,’ said Ruso.
‘Cassiana is bound to come to her senses in a day or two. And that girl will find a way to survive. These foreigners are often cleverer than we give them credit for, you know.’
‘True.’
Arria lifted her head. ‘After all, she managed to work her way around you, didn’t she, dear?’
55
The stable lad looked up from heating a potion of what appeared to be melted fat and vinegary wine and declared the animal to be not too bad, considering. ‘This should fix him up, sir.’
Ruso explained about the unscheduled leap across the ditch, and the stable lad declared that idiots like them investigators shouldn’t be allowed on the road, which echoed Ruso’s sentiments precisely.
Spotting the water bottle slung over a hook, Ruso took it down. ‘I appreciated the drink,’ he said. ‘But this needs a good rinse through before it’s used again. It tasted a bit stale.’
‘Oh, it’s not ours, sir,’ explained the lad. ‘It was left slung over the saddle-pad, so I just filled it up for you.’
‘It’s not ours? You mean it came with Severus? The man who was poisoned?’
The lad looked sheepish. ‘Sorry, sir. I didn’t think.’
Ruso, who had drunk most of the contents on the journey back to the house, paused to ponder the state of his internal workings.
‘It was pretty much empty before, sir.’
‘Never mind,’ he said, hoping that the minor gurgles and rumblings of which he was suddenly acutely conscious were nothing to worry about. ‘Just keep it with the saddle for now and make absolutely sure nobody uses it.’
‘Are you feeling all right, sir?’
Ruso ran one hand through his hair. ‘I think so,’ he said, reminding himself that the snake man had said it wasn’t usually fatal and vaguely aware that he might just have found out how Severus had been poisoned after leaving home. ‘I’m going to go straight to the kitchen and drink a large quantity of salt water. If it doesn’t work, I want you to tell the investigators exactly what happened and who the flask belonged to. And make sure everybody knows it had nothing to do with tonight’s dinner.’
The stable lad’s eyes widened. ‘I’m really very sorry, sir.’
‘I don’t doubt it,’ agreed Ruso. ‘Hopefully, I’ll be in a fit state to tell you off properly when you get back from Arelate.’
56
Ruso watched Lucius, with the stable lad beside him, driving the cart up to the main road and turning the mules towards the darkening clouds of the eastern sky. With luck, Severus’ accomplice was still away in some distant port, cashing in Probus’ letters of credit, and had left no one at home to mind his affairs and fend off inquisitive women. If not, Tilla’s and Cass’s best hope was that Lucius would catch up with them before they got themselves into serious trouble. This time, Ruso was not allowed to interfere. The little brother was determined to tackle the monsters himself.
When the vehicle was finally out of sight beyond the vineyards, he shut the gate and walked back across the garden. In his hand was a list of detailed reminders that Lucius had left for the farm slaves to stop them ruining everything in his absence, despite the fact that most of them had been working this land all their lives. Ruso hoped they knew what they were doing. Instructions like ‘Day 2, jars 3 to 8, add brine’ were meaningless unless the men knew what quantities were involved, and there was now nobody left to ask. Apart from the staff, the only other adults here to consult were Arria and Marcia.
The gods alone knew what the investigators must be making of what they had found here today. A resentful farmer with marital problems, a medic with massive debts and some knowledge of poisons, a stepmother who had her staff clean up the site of a murder, and a cook who washed up the evidence. The only faintly good news from today was that, so far, they did not seem to have found out that Severus had been instrumental in the death of Cass’s brother. He supposed it was only a matter of time, though, before they worked it out and added her to their list of possible suspects. Once they had put all that lot together they would probably be able to convince themselves that the barbarian who had fled the scene with her had something to do with it as well.
He would make a final check on the injured horse before taking himself to the baths to prepare for the dreaded dinner.
‘Galla!’
At the sound of Ruso’s voice across the garden, the slave’s body jolted as if she had been speared.
‘I’d like a word. In the study.’
Behind the closed door of the study he demanded to know exactly who this Solemnis the carter was and how Tilla had met him. ‘You may as well tell me,’ he insisted. ‘Lying will only get you into worse trouble.’
‘I would not lie to you, my lord.’
