by Jane Finnis
“Somebody’s not happy,” I said to Vitellia. “I bet that’s Chloe, Jovina’s daughter. She always had a temper.”
Just then Selena came in, and smiled to see us. “I’m pleased you’re here, Mistress Aurelia. My lady will be, too. I was afraid from what Master Philippus said that you weren’t staying.”
“I said I’d come. But Philippus tells us Jovina is still too ill for visitors. Is he right?”
“Jupiter’s balls, I wish he’d stop…” She paused and continued more calmly, “He gets so protective sometimes. She’s not too ill for you, Mistress, I promise. Master Philo just came to tell her you’d looked in, but you had to hurry away and would come back later. My lady was beside herself so I came straight here to ask you to change your mind.”
“Don’t worry. I’m going nowhere till I’ve seen my cousin.”
“Good, because she’s desperate to see you. She’s still unwell, and she needs her rest, but fretting over when you’ll be here is stopping her getting it. If you’ll come with me, I’ll take you to her straight away. The only thing is, if she finds she’s getting tired after a while…”
“We’re old friends, she’ll tell me quickly enough if I overstay my welcome. Vitellia, will you wait for me here?”
“May I keep you company?” Philippus was standing in the doorway smiling down at her. “I’ll show you round the garden if you like. There are some quite interesting statues.”
“Thank you, that would be very nice.”
I don’t know how I’d expected to find my cousin: lying flat out on her bed, or limply reclining, supported by a heap of pillows. It was a pleasant surprise to see her sitting on a reading-couch, fully dressed and with her hair properly arranged. She had lovely fine fair hair that I’d always envied. She was pale, presumably from being ill, but that only emphasised her large dark eyes and full lips. She hadn’t lost her beauty.
She got up, smiling, as Selena showed me in. “Aurelia dear, thank the gods! It’s so good to see you.”
“And you, Jovina.” I went to her and we embraced. “And I’m so glad to find you out of bed. From what your menfolk said about you, I wasn’t expecting that.”
She looked pleased, and then her expression became a little embarrassed. “No, well, I had to keep everyone at bay for a day or two, except Selena and the healing-woman from the village. But I’m better now. Come and sit here next to me, and I’ll tell you it all. Could you fetch us some fresh wine, Selena, please? Aurelia and I have a lot of catching-up to do. And I still don’t want any visitors. Absolutely nobody.”
“I understand, Mistress. Not even Nikias, if he tries again?”
“Well…no. Definitely not. I should never have allowed him to see me last night, only …never mind. I don’t want to see him again.”
“Very good.” Something odd about Selena’s tone caught my attention. Had the handsome medic helped or hindered Jovina’s quick recovery? Had she even been ill at all? You couldn’t read it in her face. You might have said she’d had a bad headache or an uncomfortable time of the month, but nothing serious enough to warrant her refusing to see anyone for days. Or had it been Philippus, not she herself, who’d been keeping visitors away? And if so, why?
“I don’t know what I’d have done without Selena these last few months,” Jovina said as the door closed. “She’s loyal, she’s efficient, and she’s one of the few people here I can really trust. Now, first things first. I’m so sorry you had to spend last night at that dreadful mansio.”
“It wasn’t too bad. Not the Oak Tree, but then I’ve always said I run the best mansio north of the Humber, so what could I expect? And I was grateful to Philippus for sorting out accommodation for us when the mansio was so busy.”
“He’s one of their regulars. He plays dice there most nights and makes a useful contribution to their bar takings.” She smiled. “Boys will be boys, you know. Anyhow, from today you must stay here…no, no arguments, I insist on it. Get your things brought over straight away. Selena will organise it all. How many servants have you?”
“Only one maid. My drivers and guards are wanted back at Oak Bridges so they’re going home today. And don’t forget there’s Vitellia, Lucius’ betrothed. You did get my note about her coming to the party?”
“She’s welcome—the more the merrier. I’ll need all the help I can get to keep things cheerful. And now that it’s been brought forward…”
“Brought forward? I thought it was on your birthday in two days’ time.”
“It was, but that’s Midsummer Day, and there’s some sort of panic on at the fort about it. We’ve had warning that the natives are up to something, and Trebonius, that’s the commander, wants everyone on high alert, not relaxing at a party.”
“I only just got here in time, then. I’m really looking forward to it. And of course we’d much rather stay here, if you’re sure.”
“Quite certain. It’s wonderful that you’ve managed to get here. It can’t have been easy at such short notice.”
“Of course I’ve come. Your message didn’t leave me much choice, talking about danger, and Greeks bearing gifts. What’s it all about?”
She spread out her hands. “Where to begin? I’ve got so much to tell you.”
“Begin with why you wrote me last night that someone was trying to stop me coming to see you. Whoever it was, they were presumably only doing what they thought was right for you.”
She smiled. “Oh, that? I think I was being a bit silly. Philo is so overprotective sometimes, but he means it for the best. He was worried when I was poorly, you know how men are about women’s complaints. I’m having trouble convincing him that I’m recovered now.”
“And are you really recovered? Selena says you’re not quite there yet. What’s been the trouble? Have you been ill for long?”
“I was only really sick for a day, but I didn’t want the menfolk asking all sorts of awkward questions. Marcus especially. So we told them all I was too ill to see any of them. Now we can say the village healing-woman has found a cure, and I’m myself again.”
“Good. But what was wrong with you?”
Again she evaded the question. “I’ll be fit for the birthday party, at any rate. But as to enjoying it… The nearer this so-called celebration comes, the more I’m dreading it.”
“Why, for the gods’ sake? You’ll be the centre of attention and you’ll have all your friends around you.”
“That’s just it. All of them. I shall be like a juggler throwing knives in the air and trying not to catch them by the blades.”
This over-dramatic image was so typical of Jovina, it made me smile. “Nonsense, it’ll be fine. I intend to enjoy it anyway. It’s ages since I was at a party. And it’ll be good for Vitellia to meet new people. She’s led a fairly sheltered life.”
“Chloe will like having some female company of her own age.” Jovina sighed. “That child is a worry just now, I don’t mind telling you. Marcus plans to announce her betrothal at my party, you know. A good marriage, with an old family friend. Statius Severus, from Lindum. I don’t suppose you remember him, do you?”
“I think so, vaguely.” A picture came into my mind, not a particularly attractive one: an old man who walked with a stick, grey hair, grey face set in a permanent frown.
“He’s a lot older than Chloe, isn’t he?”
“He’s well past fifty, more than twice Chloe’s age. That’s part of the problem. She says she doesn’t fancy him. And before you say it, I know young girls can’t just marry whoever they please. But I can understand how she feels. Living on military bases, she’s got very used to mixing with men nearer her own age. All she wants to do is run wild, lapping up the attention she gets from the young soldiers. It’s a perfectly good marriage though. Apart from Statius being a long-standing friend, he’s rich. We never have been, so it’s important Chloe marries money. She’ll give up her wild ways eventually. But I’ve asked Marcus not to announce the engagement tomorrow. I don’t want the party spoil
t by a huge row.”
“Just between you and me, I wish Vitellia could show a bit of wildness now and again. They should suit one another.”
Selena came in with the wine, poured it out, and left. I raised my mug.
“To a happy birthday,” I said, “and a happy party to celebrate it.”
She lifted her beaker to me. “I can face it now you’re here. I’m still dreading it, but I feel I can get through it.”
“We’ll get through it together. You still haven’t really told me why you’re dreading it.”
She shrugged. “Oh, don’t mind me. Tell me all your news. This Vitellia, now…”
I did as she asked, but reluctantly, because it seemed all wrong somehow. It was her news I wanted to talk about. But she persisted, and seemed bright and lively, and much interested in all the Aurelius family were doing. Yet to me, knowing her well, it was a forced brightness, like a coat of garish paint concealing blemishes on the face of a marble statue.
After a mug of wine, I decided I must make arrangements for us all to move to her house from the mansio.
Vitellia was where I’d left her, chatting to Philippus. The pair of them seemed to be getting on very well, and that must be a good thing, I thought. If I was supposed to be keeping an eye on Philippus, that job should be much easier if he spent plenty of time with Vitellia.
I sent for Brutus and gave all the necessary practical instructions. “So you can head for home today, in plenty of time.”
He looked troubled. “The more I see of this place, the more worried I am about leaving you.”
“I’ll be perfectly safe with my cousin and her family.”
“I don’t know as any Roman outside the fort is perfectly safe just now. I’ve been keeping me ears open, and so have the drivers. There’s definitely resentment among the natives, and they all seem to think it’ll come to a head on Midsummer Day. The fort commander’s quite worried, he’s sending to Eburacum for reinforcements, they say. And I don’t like the idea of you and Miss Vitellia being here alone.”
“Ah, but we shan’t be alone. Quintus Antonius has arrived here.”
“Antonius? That’s good news. Maybe the commander sent for him too?”
“Maybe. But the point is, I’ve got someone reliable I can call on if I need to. You go home, you’re needed there.”
He nodded. “All right then, if you’re certain. I hope you have a really good party. And take care, won’t you?”
“I will, Brutus. You can be sure of it.”
Chapter XIV
As I was returning to Jovina’s room. Selena came hurrying past me in the hall, a note-tablet in her hand. She slowed down long enough to say softly, “This letter’ll please my lady. From a certain person up at the fort. Would you mind waiting here just a little while? You’ll get no sense out of her till she’s read it.”
“Of course.” I wandered to the nearest window and looked out into the garden, and caught a fleeting glimpse of the handsome soldier Gambax whom I’d met at the mansio, hastening along a paved path towards a stand of trees. He must be here to see Chloe. Well, it was none of my business.
When Selena beckoned me to come in, Jovina was smiling and holding her letter aloft. “A note from Trebonius. He wants me to go and see him today. To make final arrangements for my party. He’s organising it, you see.”
“The commander is? I’d assumed it would be Marcus.”
Her smile broadened, and she even blushed. “Well, Marcus hasn’t been in much of a state to organise anything lately. Trebonius offered to help, and he suggested we should invite a few people from the fort and the village, people outside the family, I mean. He thinks with everyone being so unsettled and on edge just now, a bit of socialising will be good for morale. That’s the only reason.”
Oh yes? And I’m the Queen of Brigantia. She looked more like a romantic young girl with a note from the boy next door than a senior officer’s wife planning a social event to improve morale.
“Where will it be? Here, or in the fort?”
“Neither. It’s going to be outside, in the open air. A lovely spot where the water-meadows slope very gently down to the river.”
“In the open? In northern Britannia? What if it rains all day?”
“It won’t. We’re in for a long fine spell, that’s what the village wise-woman says.”
“And if she’s not so wise after all?”
She laughed. “There’ll be tents there, enough so we can all sit and eat under cover if we really have to. But the plan is for all the tables and couches to be out in the sunshine.”
“It’s a lot to arrange, but a fort commander must be good at organising people and supplies.”
“He is. You must come with me this afternoon, he wants to meet you. Bring Vitellia too. He says he knows Lucius.”
“He probably does. My brother has all sorts of contacts in the army. Talking of which, you’ve heard me mention Quintus Antonius Delfinus, the bridge engineer?”
“Bridge engineer, spy, and your mysterious lover? When are you going to introduce me to him?”
“Quite soon, I think. He’s here in Isurium, I saw him at the mansio last night. I told him I’d be visiting you and he said he might call round here later on, if it’s convenient.”
“My dear, of course it’s convenient, I’ve been telling you for years I want to meet him.” Then her bright smile faded. “But why is he here? Is he expecting trouble of some sort? Yes, of course he must be, otherwise what’s he doing in Isurium just now?”
“There’s some problem with the bridge, he told me.”
“The bridge? Gods, as if things weren’t difficult enough!”
“You mean with this dreadful man Eurytus? From what I’ve heard and seen, he causes trouble wherever he goes. Between you and me—and please keep this to yourself, Jovina—I think perhaps Quintus’ visit may be connected with him and his antics.”
“Good. In that case Trebonius will be very glad of his help.” She sipped her wine and gazed thoughtfully through the open window at the garden. “I love this house, away from the fort. But I feel vulnerable here, surrounded by civilians, and most of them natives. If they start damaging property, setting fire to things, what can we do?”
“Is that likely?”
“Vivat Venutius Victor,” she muttered. “The gods curse him, barbarian oaf. Trebonius thinks we have to take him seriously. So does Marcus…when he’s in a state to think at all, that is.”
I took the chance to put a question I’d been wanting to ask. “And how are things with Marcus these days? I saw him briefly yesterday at the fort. I’m not sure if he really saw me.”
She nodded. “Philo told me. Drunk as a senator, I gather. I’m so sorry.”
“It’s hardly your fault. Is he often like that?”
“Most of the time, I gather. Of course he’s under a great deal of strain now that he’s deputy commander, and he needs to live over at the fort mostly. He has quite decent quarters there. But I prefer to stay here.”
“So you don’t see much of him. That seems a shame.”
She smiled faintly. “He says living in a military base is more peaceful than putting up with Chloe’s tantrums. I can tell you it’s more peaceful for me without him. We keep up appearances in public when we have to. We’re supposed to set an example to the younger officers.”
“Presumably he’ll be at the party?”
“Oh, yes. He doesn’t like Trebonius, but he can’t let it show.” She sighed.” He and Trebonius were rivals for the commander’s post when the previous prefect retired. Marcus has never forgiven Trebonius for winning. He still thinks he should have got the job. But I don’t see why I should take his side when Trebonius is so much the better man. You’ll like him. Everybody does.”
“You and Trebonius…are you seeing much of one another?”
“Now and then. It’s not serious, we’re good friends enjoying a bit of fun, nothing more. I know he’d like more, but after all he’s a married ma
n, and I can’t…I ought not to…Oh, Aurelia, I wish I knew what to do for the best.” Suddenly her face crumpled, and she began to cry.
I took her in my arms and hugged her till the tears subsided. “Tell me. I’m here, and I can help, I’m sure I can.”
Out it all came. How Marcus didn’t love her now, or even want her in bed, preferring the company of village women. How Chloe was not just refusing the marriage her parents had arranged for her, but threatening to run away from home unless she was allowed to marry a totally unsuitable young soldier with no rank and no money.
And Philippus was her biggest worry. “Running wild, gambling, chasing women, spending money as if he has his own mint. I don’t know where he gets it from, and I don’t want to know, it’s bound to be something unsavoury, if not actually illegal. And now he’s got demoted and sent to command a tannery, of all things. And the company he keeps…thank the gods Terentius has been away lately, but when he comes back, I don’t know what will happen to Philo.”
“Terentius won’t be coming back,” I said gently. “He’s been killed in an accident. I know, because it happened at the Oak Tree.”
“Terentius dead? Well, that’s something. Oh, dear, how awful of me. I’ve been so worried. Aurelia, can I trust you with a secret?”
“You can.”
“After Philo stayed here at the beginning of the month, the maids were cleaning his room, and they found…I’ll show you.”
She went over to her bed, felt under the mattress, and produced a small pouch. When she unfastened it I saw a bronze brooch. She brought it to me, but I recognised it without having to look closely. It bore the letters VVV.
“I hid it,” she explained breathlessly. “I know what VVV means, but I don’t know why Philo would have a thing like this. Of course he wouldn’t get himself mixed up in a rebellion, but…well, if he’s short of money, he might have been involved in a small way. Supplying information, relaying messages, I don’t know. What do you think?”