Ode To A Banker

by Lindsey Davis

  ‘Let’s accept that you and your husband rubbed along together happily. When Chrysippus died unexpectedly, you were threatened with losing everything you had here. That made you harden your attitude. So you persuaded Lysa to let you have the family home. Marriage for the purposes of others will never happen to you again.’

  ‘No, it won’t.’ It was a simple statement, impassively made. Not, I thought, a confession of murder.

  The marriage was probably complex, as all marriages are. It had not necessarily been miserable. Vibia had possessed money and independence. As I saw her when we first met, and as Euschemon had described her, she was a wife whose domestic and social place was worth having. Chrysippus had doted on her, and he loved to show her off. Expecting only a marriage of convenience, Lysa had been genuinely angry at what had been sprung on her after so many years.

  ‘Were you happy in bed?’

  ‘Mind your own business.’

  Vibia gave me a level stare. She was no virgin. That look was too confident - and too challenging. Nor did she carry the wounds, mental even more than physical, which would have resulted from three years of sexual abuse.

  ‘Well, I don’t think you suffered. But did you hunger for better, sweetheart?’

  ‘What does that mean?’

  ‘The staircase to your private apartment lies unguarded and, as I found today, it’s deserted. Did a lover ever stroll upstairs to visit you?’

  ‘Stop insulting me.’

  ‘Oh, I am full of admiration - for your courage. If Chrysippus was often working in the library, you were taking quite a risk.’

  ‘I would have been - if I had done it,’ said Vibia harshly. ‘As it happens, I was a chaste and loyal wife.’

  I gazed at her and murmured gently, ‘Oh hard luck!’

  Although she had, as they say, kept the keys of this house for three years (though in practice, I suspected Chrysippus was the kind of man who clung on to the keys), Vibia lacked experience. She was at a loss how to make me remove myself-or to summon up heavies to have me removed. She was trapped. Even when I was rude, she could only complain feebly.

  ‘Tell me,’ I challenged with a bright smile. ‘Diomedes used to see his father often; was he able to come and go freely?’

  ‘Of course. He was born and brought up here.’

  ‘Oh! So had the loving son been allocated a room here?’

  ‘There was a room he had always had,’ Vibia replied frigidly. ‘From childhood.’

  ‘Oh how sweet! Near yours, was it?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Proximity is such a fluid concept I shall not test this with a measuring rule… When he visited so regularly, nobody would think much of it?’

  ‘He was my husband’s son. Of course not.’

  ‘He could have been visiting you,’ I pointed out.

  ‘You have a dirty mind, Falco,’ retorted Vibia, with that trace of coarseness that had always stopped her being entirely respectable.

  ‘Young stepmama, and idle stepson of her own age - it would not be the first time nature secretly held sway… Somebody told me, you wanted more to do with Diomedes than was proper.’

  ‘That person slandered me.’

  I tipped my head on one side. ‘What - no secret hankering?’

  ‘No.’

  These flat little negatives were starting to fascinate me. Every time she came out with one, I felt it hid a major secret. ‘You were quite rude about him when you were first interviewed.’

  ‘I have no feelings either way,’ said Vibia - with that deliberate neutrality that always means a lie. During all this part of my questioning, she had been looking at the oriental carpet evasively.

  I changed the subject suddenly: ‘So how do you feel about Diomedes marrying your relative?’

  For one brief moment that wide mouth pursed. ‘It is nothing to do with me.’

  ‘Lysa said you helped arrange it.’

  ‘Not quite.’ She was scrambling to recover her composure. I sensed that Lysa had bullied her into something here. ‘When I was asked what I thought, I did not raise objections.’

  ‘And was that failure to object,’ I demanded, ‘so important to Lysa and Diomedes that they rewarded you with all this lovely property?’

  At that, Vibia did look up. In fact, she became elated. ‘Lysa is so annoyed to lose it. That’s the best part for me - she is furious to see me living in what used to be her house.’

  ‘For a matchmaker’s pay-off,’ I told her bluntly, ‘the price is extortionate. As a banker by proxy, I am astonished that Lysa agreed.’ No reaction. ‘Now that you are a lone woman living without masculine protection, what, may I ask, are you doing about your stepson’s childhood room?’

  Vibia was well ahead of me. ‘Obviously it is no longer respectable for him to come here. People might suggest something scandalous. This letter I am writing’- she produced the document she had been frowning over when I first walked in - ‘says Diomedes must remove his things - and not come here again.’

  ‘Such concern for propriety. His bride will be grateful to you, Vibia!’

  She was very anxious to distract me. By chance, it seemed, the young lady had lifted her arm onto the back of the reading couch and her richly beringed hand had lolled against my left shoulder. Was it chance, or was Fortune for once looking after me? Now, with a faint jingle from a delightful silver bracelet, her small fingers began slowly moving, caressing my shoulderbone as if she were unaware of doing it. Oh very nice. She was definitely moving in on me. Feminine wiles. As if I had not encountered enough of them in my career.

  I leaned back my head, like a man who was perplexed, and fell silent. Then, just as the fingertips began exploring that sensitive, rather tingly area of my neck where the tunic edge met my hairline, Passus knocked on the door. I breathed a sigh of relief - or was it regret?

  ‘I’m just off now, Falco.’ He had a scroll bundle with him. ‘This is the stuff you wanted -‘

  ‘Thanks, Passus.’ Both of us managed not to grin, as I jumped up from the couch and collected the scrolls from him. ‘I’m finished here.’ That was one way of putting it. ‘I’ll walk along with you. Vibia Merulla, thank you for your help.’

  I bade a rapid farewell to the widow, and safely fled.

  XXXIX

  AGAIN, I decided against lunch at the Clivus Publicius popina, part from not wanting to give Passus the idea that I dallied atfood stalls - where Petronius and the rest were bound to have told him informers flocked like summer pests. I could now see two of the scriptorium authors leaning on the bar. Had it been the playwright or the love poet, Urbanus or Constrictus, I would have gone down there and joined them but it was the gangling Scrutator spouting at the flashily dressed Turius. Not in the mood for either, I went the other way, up towards the crest of the Aventine and home. There I invited Helena out for an early lunch at a more local eatery.

  ‘Falco, you have a shifty look about you!’

  ‘Certainly not.’

  ‘What have you been doing?’

  ‘Talking to Passus about literature.’

  ‘Lying dog,’ she said

  Even when I gave her the scrolls to read she still looked suspicious for some reason. She leaned over and sniffed my shoulder; my heart pounded a little. I dragged her out to eat before the interrogation became too drastic.

  Flora’s Caupona was always quiet, though not normally as tense as we found it today. A couple of self-effacing regulars were sitting up straight at the inside table obediently waiting for their order. Apollonius, the waiter, walked forward to welcome us. He was a retired teacher - in fact, he had taught me at school. We never mentioned that. With his usual dignity, he ignored the peculiar atmosphere, as if he had not noticed it.

  ‘We have lentils or chickpeas today, Falco.’

  ‘Jupiter, you’re taking the pulse regulations seriously.’ Most other food stalls had probably just disguised their pots of fish and meat by leaving them off the chalked-up menu.

  ‘Or
perhaps something cold?’ he enquired.

  ‘Something cold!’ Helena gasped. It was so hot outside, we couldhardly move two yards without sweat drenching us. ‘Junia, just because the edict says you can only serve pulses hot, doesn’t mean you are forced to provide steaming porridges even in August!’

  My sister clasped her hands upon the spotless pot-counter. (Not her effort; Apollonius took a strange pride in his demeaning work.) ‘We can make you a salad specially - seeing as you are family,’ she condescended primly.

  Her son was playing with a model ox-cart where a second table had once stood. We put Julia down with Marcus Baebius and they soon started screaming at each other noisily. I waited for the customers to leave because of the racket. They stuck it out like a bunch of stubborn thick-ribbed limpets that had been excrescences on a harbour groin for twenty years.

  Helena and I took a bench outside, the only remaining seat. Junia had made Apollonius prepare the salad, so she came out to patronize us.

  ‘How are you two getting on? When is that cradle going to be occupied again?’ Helena stiffened. From now on, she would go to enormous lengths to keep her pregnancy from Junia. ‘And how is that wonderful new house of yours?’

  ‘Are you trying to make us weep?’ Helena demanded, freely acknowledging that the house purchase - her purchase - was a bad mistake. ‘Apart from the fact we are lumbered with the worst building-contractors in Rome - recommended by your father - I have now realised it is far too distant from the city for Marcus to do his work properly.’

  ‘Father is talking about selling up,’ suggested Junia. ‘Why don’t you do a swap with him?’

  Neither of us answered her, though we both had difficulty withholding our delight at the idea of Pa having to deal with Gloccus and Cotta. Even if this had been the best solution possible - and if there was any chance Pa would agree to do it - we would still not have allowed Junia the triumph of suggesting it.

  ‘I’ll mention your interest to Pa,’ she said bossily. ‘By the way, did you know Maia has persuaded him to let her work at the warehouse?’

  ‘Goodness,’ murmured Helena. ‘Whoever would have thought of that?’

  ‘She won’t stick it out,’ Junia decided.

  ‘Wait and see,’ I replied, trying to remain calm ‘I’ll remind you of that statement in ten years’ time, Junia, when Maia has become a top-notch antiques expert and the Favonius auction house leads the profession under her shrewd guidance.’

  ‘What a joker,’ said Junia. Silently, I willed Mercury the god of commerce to make Flora’s Caupona go broke.

  Apollonius brought our food then, so Junia broke off to mention little errors he had made in seasoning the salad, and to suggest clever ways he could serve it more elegantly next time. He thanked her gravely. I caught his eye, then had to shove spring onions into my mouth quickly to cover up my grin.

  ‘Jupiter, sister - this is a one-snatch food-bar, not a palace dining room.’

  ‘Try not to talk with your mouth so full Marcus. And don’t tell me how to do my job.’ After two weeks, she was the expert. Helena kicked me, as a signal not to upset myself arguing. Junia reassumed her regal position, leaning on the inside counter. She could not resist a final dig: ‘You want to have a sharp word with Mother - about that man Anacrites.’

  This time I crammed a large piece of sorrel into my mouth to annoy her deliberately, before answering: ‘Ma knows what I think.’

  Junia tossed her head angrily. ‘She cannot know what other people are saying.’

  ‘I don’t know myself. What are you talking about?’

  ‘Oh, don’t play the innocent.’

  I had a bad feeling. I tried not replying.

  ‘Well, for one thing,’ Junia enjoyed telling me, ‘he has persuaded Mother to give him all her savings to invest.’

  ‘Shush! Don’t discuss our family affairs so publicly.’ For once, I was happy our children were making such a racket.

  This was a shock. I had been unaware Ma had any savings with which she wanted to speculate. At my side, Helena moved slightly, almost as if she had expected something else to be said. Whatever she thought, she was noticeably keeping quiet. Now she reached over me to where Apollonius had set down the breadbasket and took a roll. Then she involved herself in breaking it into very neat pieces, which she slowly ate. Flora’s Caupona had always specialised in very doughy rolls. What looked like seeds on the top, usually turned out to be grit.

  After chewing and swallowing my sorrel leaf to give myself reaction time, I pointed out to Junia that if Ma had been pinching back a few coppers every week from her housekeeping, it could hardly amount to much. She had brought up seven children unaided, then even after we left home she let herself be drawn into helping out the mostfeckless and hopeless of her offspring. Our elder brother Festus set the standard for sponging before he was killed in the East. I looked after his daughter financially, but various grandchildren were being shod, fed, and in some cases pushed through basic schooling by their devoted grandmother. She had two brothers (three if you counted the one who had sensibly run away); from them she cadged country vegetables, but otherwise our family offered few possibilities to recoup her generosity. Pa gave her a small annuity. I had always paid her rent.

  Junia came outside again and whispered a huge figure that she thought our mother’s nest egg might amount to. I whistled. ‘How did she collect that together?’

  Still, Ma always was tenacious. She bailed me out of prison once; I knew she could call on spare cash somewhere. I imagined she hid it in her mattress the way old women are supposed to do to help burglars find it easily.

  ‘What has Anacrites done with this money, Junia?’ Helena asked, looking concerned.

  ‘He put it in some bank he uses.’

  ‘What - the Golden Horse? The Aurelius Chrysippus outfit?’ I was now horrified. I did not care where Anacrites shoved his cash, but enough questions hung over the Golden Horse to make anybody else now shun the place. ‘Has Anacrites told Ma that the proprietor was recently found dead in suspicious circumstances - and that there is a suggestion of devious practice?’

  ‘Oh, Ju-no!’ drawled my sister loudly. ‘Well, that’s Mother in trouble! I must tell her at once - she’ll be devastated!’

  ‘Just advise her quietly,’ I warned. The bank is perfectly solvent as far as I know. Anacrites was talking to me about removing his own cash in view of these problems - but that’s privileged information. I presume if he withdraws his own funds, he will do the same for Ma.’

  It rankled that my mother had turned to Anacrites for investment advice. It rankled even more that he had known her financial position when I, her only son, did not.

  Junia had sat down and was now posing, chin on one hand, looking thoughtful. ‘Of course, maybe it would be better not to say anything to Mother after all.’

  ‘Why ever not?’ Helena’s voice was sharp. She hated people acting irresponsibly. ‘Somebody ought to warn Junilla Tacita. She can make up her own mind what she does about the situation - or better still, she can ask Marcus for advice.’

  ‘No, I don’t think so,’ Junia decided.

  ‘Don’t be coy, Junia,’ I said lazily. I hardly paid her any attention; I was intending to warn Ma about the bank myself. ‘What’s on your mind then?’

  Being Junia, she could not bear to keep a nasty premise to herself. ‘If Ma was to lose money because of Anacrites, it might put a stop to something worse.’

  ‘Worse than Ma losing her savings?’ I was coughing over a radish - not only because it was hot.

  ‘Don’t pretend you don’t know,’ sneered my sister. ‘Everybody on the Aventine is speculating why Anacrites is living at our mother’s house. Once their curiosity is aroused, people will find answers for themselves, you know.’

  ‘What answers? And what’s the damned question, anyway?’

  The slow heat of indignation had already started burning before Junia told me what she believed the scandal-mongers thought: ‘Oh Marcu
s! The gossips around every fountain are saying that Anacrites is our mother’s fancy man.’

  I had eaten enough of their brown-edged greenery and swallowed enough of Junia’s irresponsible bile. I stood up. Without even looking at me, Helena was already collecting Julia.

  As a gesture of farewell, the only one I could bear to distribute, I nodded to Apollonius for old times’ sake. I set down the reckoning and left him a large tip. It would be some time before I allowed myself to visit Flora’s after this.

  ‘I am impressed by your nose for gossip, Junia. You have given me a lot to think about - and it’s a long time since I heard anything so utterly ridiculous.’

  ‘Well, let’s face it, Marcus,’ replied my sister callously, ‘you may call yourself an informer. But when it comes to collecting information, you are absolutely useless!’

  ‘I don’t collect irresponsible chit-chat!’ I retaliated, and we left.

  XL

  WE HAD walked nearly all the way home before I stopped dead in the street and exploded. Helena waited patiently until I stopped ranting.

  ‘I don’t believe it!’

  ‘Well, why are you making so much fuss, Marcus?’

  ‘I won’t have my mother insulted.’

  We were outside the poulterer’s in Fountain Court by now. Nobody paid any attention. They were used to me. Anyway, it was midday in August. Those who could had fled to the country. Those who could not were lying prone wishing they could go too.

  Perspiration poured off me. My tunic was sticking to my back.

  Helena said slowly, ‘You don’t know whether it is true or not. But you ought to allow the possibility that a woman of your mother’s age - any age - may enjoy masculine company. With so many children, she cannot ever have had a cold disposition. She has lived without your father for a long time now, Marcus. She might, she just might actually want someone in her bed.’

  ‘You’re as disgusting as Junia.’

  ‘If it was a man with a young girl, you would be thrilling with envy,’ snapped Helena. She took our daughter and set off for our apartment, leaving me to do as I pleased.