guardianship issue, not involving the ex-Vestal? I started getting tough. “Laelius Scaurus came up to town this week to see his aunt and other members of the family. Now what’s the truth about this?”
Caecilia shook her head extremely vigorously. “It was just a family conference.”
“Something to do with Gaia?”
“Nothing to do with her.”
“Is Terentia Paulla causing trouble?”
“In fairness to her, no.”
“So what’s the problem?”
“Nothing.” She was lying again. Why?
“Did this ‘nothing’ make Gaia upset, do you think?”
“It was just something that had to be arranged, a legal matter,” said the mother, sighing. “Terentia wanted my husband to be consulted; his father thought Scaurus should not be involved.”
“What do you think?”
“Scaurus was useless!” she complained, quite violently. “He always is.” For a moment she sounded worn out by trying to cope. I could now understand why she might have accepted Scaurus’ departure from Rome with some relief. After this brief glimpse of her frustration with him, she made an attempt to deflect me by saying, “Many of Gaia’s things here were presents from Aunt Terentia and Uncle Tiberius.”
I went with it. “Uncle Tiberius? He would have been Terentia Paulla’s husband? The one who died? Was that very recently?”
Another troubled look crossed Caecilia’s pale face. “Quite recent, yes.”
“That was why you needed the family conference, was it?”
I seemed to have caught her off guard. “Well, yes. It arose from his death.”
“When my sister first came here to call on you, most of the family were at a funeral-were you cremating Terentia’s husband?” Caecilia’s face confirmed it, though she looked hunted; perhaps she was remembering how angry the ex-Flamen had been about Maia visiting. “ Excuse me asking, but is it not unusual for a retired Vestal to marry?”
“Yes.”
“That’s a bit terse! Was it another cause of conflict here?”
“Oh yes,” answered Caecilia, with a sudden release of emotion. “ Yes, Falco. It caused more conflict than you can ever realize!”
I waited for an explanation, but the drama had been enough for her. She wore a trace of defiance, as though she were glad she had spoken out-yet now she buttoned up. I thought of something that could explain a few things: “When Vestals retire, they are often awarded large dowries by the Emperor, are they not?”
With her composure restored, Caecilia agreed quietly. “Yes, Aunt Terentia was well endowed financially. But that was not the attraction for Uncle Tiberius. He was a very wealthy man himself.”
“So what was the attraction?” I ventured. Wrong move, Falco! Caecilia looked offended, and I backed off smartly. “Now he’s dead, does Terentia inherit?”
“Probably. I don’t think she has even considered it. She has been far too taken up with other concerns.”
“Everything I hear about Terentia suggests she will have her financial situation well in hand… What concerns?”
“Just family business… What has this to do with finding Gaia, please?”
Caecilia was more intelligent than first impressions implied. She was learning how to dodge the questions. I could handle that. Noting which ones she ducked could prove useful.
An unplanned question came to me helpfully: “Did you like Uncle Tiberius?”
“No.” It was swift and decisive.
I stared at her. “Why was that?” I used a neutral tone first. Then, when she did not answer, I asked more dryly, “Did he jump you?”
“He made advances, yes.” Her voice was tight. This was an unexpected development.
“Advances you rebuffed?”
“Of course I did!” She was angry now.
“Was this after he married?”
“Yes. He had been married to Aunt Terentia little more than a year. He was a loathsome man. He thought every woman was at his disposal-and unfortunately, he had the knack of persuading too many to believe it.”
When she fell silent, I saw she was trembling slightly. My thoughts were racing. Was the deceased just a regular sex pest fingering married women-or was he even worse? “Caecilia Paeta, please don’t distress yourself. I have to ask you a very unpleasant question. If that was the situation-is there any possibility the ghastly Tiberius ever tried to make advances to little Gaia?”
Caecilia took a long time answering, though she received the question more calmly than I had feared. She was a mother, fluttery in some ways, but she did not flinch from protecting her child. “I was nervous about that. I did consider it. But no,” she said slowly. “I know it happens, especially with young slaves. But when I thought about it, I was sure Uncle Tiberius had no interest in children.” She paused, then forced out with difficulty, “I was afraid, in my heart, that it might become awkward later, when Gaia grew up-but he is dead, so there is no need to worry any longer, is there?” she concluded with relief.
“So Gaia certainly has not had to run away because of Uncle Tiberius?”
“No. She knows he is dead, of course. Falco, is that all you want from me?”
I reckoned I had tried her far enough. I had made more progress than I had expected, even if I did not yet understand the full significance of some of her answers. I felt the conversation had been especially harrowing for Caecilia. She must be under great pressure from Numentinus to keep family issues from me. We had been skirting more secrets than the old man would like.
“Yes, thank you. May I make a suggestion: Scaurus deserves to hear about Gaia. Send word to him today. And regarding Uncle Tiberius groping you, don’t carry that alone either. Tell someone.”
She allowed herself to look grateful. As she fled the room, she gasped out, “That’s all right. I did.”
She was gone before I could ask her who her confidant was.
XXXIII
WHILE I WAS in the vicinity, I searched the rest of the bedrooms on that corridor. A slave was sponging a floor, and since my escort had been deliberately chosen by the old man to be useless, this woman left her bucket and told me who used each place; all were members of the family. It is always entertaining to explore other people’s closets and sleeping quarters, especially when they have been given little warning that you will be popping along to do it. Burglars must have quite a few laughs. But of course, my lips are sealed. I had promised the ex-Flamen confidentiality, and he was not a man to cross.
Caecilia and the couple had large, decently equipped rooms. Caecilia had set hers out extremely neatly, as if she spent a lot of time alone there. Hiding from the family? Well, maybe she just had a very well-organized lady’s maid. The Pomonalis and his wife owned more clutter; judging from the boxes piled along one wall, it looked as if they had still not finished unpacking fully after the family’s enforced house move. Ariminius used an unfortunate variety of hair pomade. I spread some on my hand and had great trouble removing the strong stink afterwards. It was crocus, but from its staying power could have been garlic.
I had to send for a crowbar to force open all the sealed boxes, if only to show I had been thorough. Since I had been told by Gaia that her family wanted to kill her, it was a nerve-racking task. I could be about to discover a hidden corpse.
So far, I hated the setup, yet found it hard to believe Gaia’s story. This was a family in constant turmoil-yet with no evidence of real malice. I asked the escorting slave to find me the child’s nurse. The man went off reluctantly.
“Not one to look for the joys in life.” I grinned at the fat woman with the sponge. “Have I finished here?”
“One more room around the corner.” Oh? Who could that belong to?
She waddled off ahead of me, willingly pointing out the extra bedroom. It was as large as the others, but
