playing about with “Uncle Tiberius.”
“They seem to have a good marriage,” I interposed in defense of the Pomonalis, not revealing that I realized he wanted to move on.
“You are easy to bluff!” sneered Terentia. “From a man who comes with a seal of approval from a more than usually efficient emperor, I expect better. Ariminius has reached his limit. He has had enough. He is asking for a divorce.”
Yes, that fitted his remarks yesterday afternoon when he was searching for Gaia with me. “He has spoken of a yen for independence.” In fact he spoke of “desertion,” I now recalled. That would fit leaving an unstable wife. So just how unstable was Laelia? “I thought a flamen had to stay married for life? You can’t mean Ariminius will give up being a member of the priestly college?”
“I do mean that. Now you see why I have been trying to arrange formal guardianship. If there is a divorce, Laelia comes back into her own family. Numentinus is growing old and cannot be relied on indefinitely.”
“Scaurus told me you wanted him to act for you!”
She stared at me. “Me? Why should I need that?” It seemed wise not to answer. “Oh, really! The boy is an imbecile.”
“I understood that you were very fond of him, Terentia Paulla.”
“Fond? Fond is not the word. Both those children were brought up ignorant and in need of control. Scaurus is irredeemably foolish, and I try to protect him from public shame.”
Now this was the kind of madness I could understand: a woman who had apparently been declared furiosa convincing herself, and trying to convince me, that her very protectors were in need of care! Yes, it was time for a serious rethink.
“Terentia Paulla, your nephew looks like the only one here who has shown some initiative-I mean, by refusing to be drawn into the family traditions, and by leaving home.”
His loving aunt beat the side of her hand against her other fist impatiently. “Nonsense. The evidence is right in front of you, Falco. Whatever has he told you about this question of guardianship? Why spin you such a stupid story? All he had to say was the truth: that he came to Rome on legal business. He knew the whole matter has to be confidential, and by the time he saw you, his father and I had decided he was incapable of taking on the burden of his sister. He had also been clearly told to keep quiet. Instead, he dreams up some complicated fantasy that even you will soon see through-”
“So Scaurus is a bit dim?”
“Dim? My poor nephew really needs a guardian himself. When I had talked to him about his sister, I realized he was useless and I packed him off home. It leaves us with no solution, but there are hopes of Ariminius.”
I thought for a moment. “Why not help Ariminius to a divorce, with a very large settlement if possible, and ask him to be Laelia’s guardian? He could still do it. And he can be capable in a crisis. I’m sorry,” I added. “I realize it might have to be your money in the settlement, and you might not enjoy giving it over to Laelia.”
“My idea,” said Terentia, with relish, “is to use my husband’s money after I inherit! Ventidius caused this. He owes some return to the family. His wealth can make Ariminius Modullus happy, and provide for Laelia’s future care.”
“And what about Scaurus? Is his lack of brainpower why he never became a flamen?”
“Of course. The highest posts were open to him in theory. Appointing him would have been a shambles. Even his father had to admit that. Scaurus would never remember the rituals-even if he could summon the will to try. Caecilia Paeta thought, when they were first married, that she could help him through it, but in the end even she lost heart. Rituals have to be carried out exactly.”
“Ah, the old religion!” I groaned. “Appeasing the gods by the mindless repetition of meaningless words and actions, until the divine ones send good crops just to win themselves some peace from the mumblings and the smell of burning wheatcake crumbs!”
“You blaspheme, Falco.”
“I do indeed.” And I was proud of it.
Terentia decided to ignore my outburst. “My nephew’s wife, like my niece’s husband, could only endure so much. Ariminius will look after himself when he is ready; he has reason enough to leave, after all.” I wanted to ask what she meant, but she was in full flow, unused to interruptions. “Three years ago, Caecilia was breaking down; she had to be relieved of the burden of her marriage, but Numentinus would not face the problem. I put Scaurus on the farm to keep him out of harm’s way, and a sensible girl of mine looks after him.”
“The lovely Meldina?” I leered.
“You have the wrong idea again, Falco. Meldina is happily married with three children. To persuade her to do this, I have to accommodate her husband and family as well.”
“Ah! Excuse me, but does Numentinus play no part at all? You appear to have assumed responsibility; does the rigid ex-Flamen really accept you managing his children for him?”
“He watches feebly, complaining. His children are a great disappointment to him-so instead of attempting to put matters right, he absorbs himself in honoring the gods. As Flamen Dialis, he had an excuse: every hour of his time was occupied with his duties to Jupiter. My sister was no better. In a serious crisis, they both used to chew bay leaves and put themselves into a trance until somebody else had sorted it out. Thank goodness, as a Vestal I could command authority.”
Everything Terentia Paulla said could be true-or it could be some maniacal distortion of the truth. Was she really a dedicated savior of these hopeless people, or was her constant fanatical interference beyond belief? An intolerable strain from which they could not shake themselves free?
I kept reminding myself, the Arval Master had implied that this woman had run mad and cut down her husband like a blood sacrifice. The more she talked, in that angry yet well-controlled tone, the easier it was to believe that she could easily have killed her husband if she had decided it was necessary-and yet the harder it became to envisage her turning the death into a stagy tableau, conducted in a crazy trance.
Surely she would have wanted it quick, clean, and neat? Instinct said she would have made the crime itself undetectable-or at least concealed the perpetrator. If ever a killer had the intelligence and the nerve to get away with it, that was Terentia Paulla. Even if she had done it and, in her haughty way, had chosen to admit the deed, I reckoned she would have waited beside the body, then made her confession brisk and businesslike. The scene described by the Master of the Arvals, where a raving bloodstained woman was apprehended, then coaxed into confessing, did not fit at all. Nor did his description of a pathetic creature who would be taken into care match the cool woman talking to me here.
“So what about Gaia?” I asked her carefully.
“Gaia is the one shining star among this family. From who knows where-my family most likely, and even perhaps from her mother’s sideGaia has acquired intelligence and strength of character.”
“Yet you are very unwilling to see her follow you into your own profession as a Vestal?”
“Perhaps,” said Terentia, for once very quietly, “it is time one member of this family grew up to lead a normal life.”
I felt a reply would be intrusive.
“I would like to see some changes, Falco. Gaia will be dutiful, whatever role in life she undertakes.” She paused. “Then, as a Vestal, I must consider my order. I cannot knowingly approve of her selection. The potential for scandal is too great. She is a wrong choice for Vesta-and the burden on Gaia herself would be intolerable too, if a ghastly murder in her close family ever became public knowledge.”
“The lottery will be taking place now,” I said. “She’s out of it. If somebody has hidden her away to avoid her selection, she can be safely released.”
“Nobody did that. Nobody has deliberately harmed her either,” Terentia assured me.
“I’d like to ask Gaia how she felt about that.”
“Once the danger was known, I was on hand to protect her.” Protect her from whom? “She has to be found first. That, if I may remind you, Falco, is your prime responsibility.”
I decided to chance it. “According to my own young niece, Gaia Laelia has a mad aunt who has threatened to kill her.”
Terentia showed no reaction. She was going to pursue the coverup to the very end if she could.
I tried again. “Gaia told me, and she told the Vestal Constantia, that somebody in her family wanted her dead. Forgive me,” I said gently. “I have to take that seriously, especially as she has a relative who was murdered
