He said it lightly, but my heart had sunk. I had forgotten of his plans to offer Pertinax advice. ‘How long — exactly — does that give me, Excellence?’ I enquired.
He gave a small dismissive wave. ‘Oh, several days at least. Even if written confirmation came today, we shan’t be setting off now until the Ides are past. I had hoped to leave sooner and simply rest that day, since the fifteenth is always an ill-omened time, but I find that Julia — my wife — is rather indisposed. Nothing serious — too much rich food at the New Year feasts, I think. Entirely her own doing, that’s the worst of it. She suddenly developed a taste for pickled eels. I warned her that they’d disagree with her — but you know what women are.’ He made a deprecating gesture with his hands, as to a fellow-husband who would sympathize. ‘I’m postponing our departure until she’s strong again. That should give you time enough to find out what you need.’ He spoke airily, as though it were an easy matter to win people’s confidence and learn all their secrets within four days or so.
I made a little bow. ‘I’ll do my best, of course.’
He smiled indulgently. ‘Oh, and another thing: discover whether any of these people is prone to gambling. This fellow Lucius in particular. I gather from Silvia that Genialis likes to have a flutter now and then — and it may be that his half-brother did the same. That sort of weakness often runs in families and gamblers attract gamblers, everyone knows that.’
I was surprised, and said so. ‘I knew Genialis was a gambler, but Ulpius never seemed to me the sort of man to stake his fortune at a game of dice. The two were only half-brothers after all. And what makes you think that Lucius is involved at all?’
‘He may not be. That is what I want you to find out. But Silvia changed the subject when I mentioned it to her, and I would like to know. One does not entrust good money to a man who takes unnecessary risks.’ He took another thoughtful bite of fig and — in the absence of a servant — poured himself some wine and made a gesture that I should follow suit.
I did so, though in my case I didn’t fill my cup. I’m not a lover of bitter Roman wine, but it would have been improper to refuse. ‘But surely you’re relying on his taking chances — to a point? Deciding to attempt to borrow capital in order to buy Genialis out is itself a risky business, don’t you think? Especially when he hopes to manage everything himself? Without an active partner, such as Ulpius was, Lucius would have to make all the decisions on his own,’ I went on, feeling I’d earned approval with a sound judicious point. ‘What to trade and when, how much to pay for each commodity, how long to store it and what to charge for it.’
My patron gave me a searching sideways look. ‘But for Silvia’s sake, surely, it is better to have Lucius in charge? Genialis only wants to sell the business, anyway.’
He was right, of course, but still I pressed the point. ‘But, Patron, there are always factors even the best manager can’t possibly control — poor harvests or bad weather out at sea. Trading ships are often lost in sudden storms and even if they make it into port their cargoes are sometimes broken, wet or spoiled. Remember all that, when you are tempted to invest. One incident at sea and Lucius could easily be ruined.’
Marcus gave me a triumphant smile. ‘That’s why the contract with his lender — whoever that might be — will make him personally liable for any loss. With his property as surety, of course.’
Suddenly I understood why he was so interested in this. ‘So anyone who backed this venture really could not lose? If Lucius makes a profit, you would share in it — but if he loses, it is his affair?’ I shook my head. ‘Though he might take out insurance, I suppose? Don’t the money-lenders offer some sort of policy?’
‘Only at considerable expense — which would be his, of course. And if he did not do so — as I say — in the last resort his house and warehouse would be forfeit to the lender anyway.’
‘All without the backer doing anything?’ The scheme was breathtaking in its simplicity.
Marcus took a cup of wine and beamed at me across the rim of it. ‘I see you understand the matter perfectly.’
It was so elegantly simple that there had to be a flaw. I sipped at a very little of my wine before I dared to venture, doubtfully, ‘But, Excellence, no doubt Genialis understands all this as well. In that case he is likely to keep Silvia’s share — or effectively sell it to himself — on exactly those same terms.’
Marcus shook his head. ‘I don’t think that’s the case. Silvia tells me that his gambling debts are very high — he needs this money to be clear of them. That’s why he offered himself as guardian and proposed to marry her. Genialis has even publicly declared that he wants to realize the assets straight away and close the business down, but Silvia believes that he really intends to let Lucius buy him out, and all this talk of closure is a ruse to raise the price. Which Lucius, she thinks, will probably agree, because he’s desperate to protect his livelihood.’
‘But suppose that Genialis has perished in the snow?’ I said. Marcus says he values the way I see all aspects of a thing. ‘You would then be her legal guardian, wouldn’t you? In that case there would be no need to offer loans. You could simply keep the business and let Lucius run it as he’s doing now.’
Marcus favoured me with his most knowing smile. ‘But even more important, if that proves to be the case, to discover how things stand. Besides that way one has no guarantee if things go wrong, and one naturally wishes to make the greatest profit possible — if only for Silvia’s own sake. After all she may wish to wed again some day. And it does seem probable that all this will arise. I forgot to tell you — they have found the horse.’
It took me a moment to work out what he meant. ‘The one that Genialis borrowed from Bernadus to come back to Glevum on?’
‘Exactly so. We had news this morning before we left the town. A message was delivered to my flat. That Syrian slave of Genialis’s …’
‘Adonisius?’ I put in helpfully.
‘That’s right.’ Marcus nodded. ‘Apparently he rode off to find Bernadus yesterday, as we had told him to, having failed to find him in the town, but he had hardly got halfway to the country house before he found this animal roaming in the snow. The reins were broken but the saddle was still there. No sign of a rider, though he stopped and searched. The creature could have been wandering for miles. With the recent snow-melt there were not even decent tracks: too many people had been riding through that way.’
‘And we are quite certain that it was Genialis’s mount?’
‘Adonisius is. Said that he’d helped to saddle it and would have known it anywhere, even without the distinctive white blaze on the nose. Besides, he took it to the villa afterwards and Bernadus has confirmed that it was his.’ Marcus drained his wine cup. ‘Since it was found wandering quite close to the estate, it appears that it was trying to find its own way home, but there’s no sign or clue as to where it might have been. Though we can be quite certain that Genialis never got to Dorn — the household there sent a messenger to Bernadus to seek him yesterday.’