aunt told me about Tertius’ situation and said he was a good worker.’
Still baffled, Ruso said, ‘You could have bought an ordinary slave for much less.’
‘Our Lord gave his life to redeem us,’ said Lollia. ‘All I needed to give was a few coloured stones. And I’m certainly not looking for a man for myself. Not this close to the final judgement.’
‘I see,’ repeated Ruso, now wishing he didn’t. ‘So you’re another one?’
The gap-toothed smile that had so impressed him a few days ago reappeared. ‘I was still thinking about it when you took the trouble to warn me the other day,’ she said. ‘Your attitude helped me make my mind up.’
‘Which Lord is that, Lollia dear?’ asked Arria, who had evidently been listening over the garden wall.
While Lollia was cheerfully confirming that she had decided to join the followers of Christos, Ruso was deciding that he was going to keep his mouth shut about religion in future. And he was going to have proper arrangements for visitors, with a waiting area and servants to usher people in and out of the study, instead of holding this sort of free-for-all where anybody could wander up and barge into his conversations.
‘Gaius is very interested in Christos, aren’t you, Gaius? Would he have to do that circumcision thing, do you think, dear, or don’t they do that these days?’
‘I am not doing the circumcision thing!’ snapped Ruso. ‘And I am not going to turn into a follower of Christos. Somebody has to keep their feet on the ground around here. Sorry, Lollia.’
‘Oh, but Gaius, dear, you could — ’
‘No, he couldn’t, Mother,’ insisted Flora. ‘And besides, Lollia’s given loads of her money away now, so what’s the point?’
86
‘How can you possibly lecture me about what love is?’ demanded Marcia, planting both hands on the study desk and glaring at Ruso. ‘What do you know about it?’
‘Not a lot,’ agreed Ruso. ‘But how many girls get the chance to nurse a hero?’
Marcia wrinkled her nose. ‘I don’t like ill people.’
‘I’m only asking you to like this one,’ said Ruso. ‘Especially as he’s not out of danger yet.’ He leaned forward, resting his elbows on the desk. ‘I’m not saying you have to marry him tomorrow. But if you get up those stairs right away, smile at Tertius and convince him he’s got something to look forward to, I’ll fix your dowry by the end of next week.’
Marcia paused to consider this. ‘Will you cancel those awful music lessons?’
‘Agreed,’ said Ruso, who had never seen the point of spending money on them anyway.
‘And I want my own bedroom instead of sharing with Flora.’
‘You can have that upstairs room after Tertius has recovered and gone to work at Lollia’s.’
‘What? That’s not a room, it’s a cupboard!’
Ruso folded his arms. ‘That’s my final offer.’
Marcia grinned. ‘All right, then. I would have looked after him anyway, you know.’
He decided to let her enjoy her triumph. Nursing Tertius back to health would be a long, slow job. ‘You don’t happen to know where Tilla is, do you? I can’t remember what she said she was doing this morning.’
Marcia extended a finger to poke him in the chest. ‘That, Gaius, is exactly why you have no right to lecture me about love.’
87
The door-latch dropped with a click. Over in his bed, Tilla stirred and opened her eyes. He supposed she had crept in here to sleep off the exhaustion of all the chasing about last night. ‘Sorry to wake you.’
‘I am not asleep. I am thinking.’
This was ominous.
‘In my country,’ she said, ‘women can be warriors.’
‘Well, in my country they can’t.’
She said, ‘There is something I did not tell you about what happened in that bar in Arelate.’
‘Do you want me to know?’
She thought about that for a while, then said, ‘No.’
Outside, two figures were making their way down between the tall rows of the vineyard. Watching Cass slip an arm around Lucius’ ample waist as he paused to inspect a vine, Ruso said suddenly, ‘What makes a marriage happy?’
‘I do not know. I have never been married.’
Should he ask directly, or hint? Allude to his last proposal, or begin afresh? He should have practised. In the absence of rehearsal, it was best not to try to be clever. He took a deep breath and sat down beside her on the bed. ‘Tilla, I have something to ask you. Will you — ’
‘Those insects are not screeching today.’
He swallowed. ‘It’s the end of the summer.’
‘Soon the ships will stop crossing the seas.’
‘That’ll be a few weeks.’
‘Then I should go now.’
He said, ‘I can’t take you yet. I’ve promised to look after Tertius.’
‘And you have Lollia Saturnina and that old wife with the strange hair,’ she said.
‘They’re just friends.’
‘The nephews and nieces have their mother,’ she continued. ‘Cass and Lucius have each other. Marcia has her gladiator, Galla has Christos, your stepmother has Diphilus — ’
‘What?’
‘Oh, open your eyes, Ruso!’
They both stared at each other in surprise. She had never called him that before.
‘I need to visit Claudia this afternoon,’ he said, and watched her mouth tighten. ‘Just to see how she is and irritate her enough for her to remember why she can’t live with me.’
‘I see. And then what will happen?’
He said, ‘Ennia said there was a stash of money hidden away in Rome. If that’s true, it would help me shift the family debt. I could go down there and try to track it down — ’
‘I am not going to Rome.’
‘Or we could — ’
‘I have seen enough greedy people who like to show murder to their children.’
‘I — ’
‘If this is what you call peace, it is not worth it.’
He said, ‘Have you finished?’
She thought about that for a moment, then said, ‘Yes. For now.’
‘Or Valens is bound to know some unit in Britannia where there’s a medic’s job out of the reach of the rebels, or warriors, or whatever they’re supposed to be called.’
‘They should be called people of honour.’
‘Please don’t start that now.’
She said, ‘I am not the one who is starting.’
He lay back on the pillow with his hands behind his head. ‘You asked me once if I was ashamed of you.’
‘Are you?’
‘I’m the one who should be ashamed. I should have introduced you better.’
‘And what would you have said?’
He paused. ‘I would have said, “This is Tilla. She is the bravest and most beautiful woman I know, and I don’t
