‘You like Julia?’
‘Julia?’ Vibia blinked. ‘Of course I do.’
It was Tiberius who laughed and teased, ‘Come, come, isn’t it traditional to have bad blood between a son’s wife and his mother?’
‘A great many things are considered traditional,’ replied the mother of Sextus Vibius, coolly. ‘Julia Verecunda certainly makes herself unpleasant – although I think she is like that with most people, relatives or not.’ She hit back. ‘How did you get along with your mother-in-law, Tiberius?’
‘Badly.’ It was his turn to be brief. ‘She died years ago. I won’t insult the woman.’ I wondered if he blamed Laia Gratiana’s mother for how Laia had turned out. ‘How does Julia Optata get on with her own mother?’
‘We have never seen much of the woman, luckily.’
‘Julia Verecunda was very harsh on Sextus in the Forum yesterday.’
‘Yes. I thought he was undeservedly polite to her. But that is how I brought him up,’ said his own proud mother.
I moved the conversation forward as diplomatically as possible. ‘Whatever happened in Julia’s first marriage, she and Sextus now have a good partnership? This is what puzzles us, Marcella Vibia. Neither Faustus nor I can grasp why, in that case, Julia Optata should prefer the company of a sister when, if she cares about Sextus, her place is at his side. If her sister really needs her, why not have the sister here?’
‘She wanted to be in the country,’ Vibia explained, sounding feeble.
‘Yet how can Julia have deserted Sextus at this time? How can he agree to it, apparently without minding?’
His mother trotted out the standard line: ‘All I know is, the trip to the country was by agreement. “For the best” was how they described it.’
Impatient with being put off, I decided to speak the unspeakable. ‘May I be honest? This is not easy to say … Somebody told me there are shocking rumours that your son beats his wife.’
‘Never!’ His mother seemed startled and shocked. She looked to her husband for help, but found none. ‘That is a terrible accusation, Flavia Albia. Tiberius, help me out!’
Before he could speak, I took the burden on myself: ‘I only want you to see why we are so concerned. Bad things are being said. Faustus and I accept it may be a mistake. But Julia Optata’s odd absence has given rise to cruel stories, fabrications by worthless opponents. You have seen the rival candidates; some are dreadful men. But, Marcella Vibia, as friends to your son, we have to ask about it.’
Marcella Vibia was an old-fashioned type, who tried to resist having to talk behind her son’s back. Frowning unhappily, she told us in a low voice, ‘The marriage is volatile, I have to admit.’
‘Oh?’ asked Tiberius, speaking mildly but fixing her.
‘They are both strong characters.’
‘You mean they fight?’ He sounded amazed. Presumably that was because of his long-term regard for Sextus.
‘Oh, I don’t know what goes on upstairs. I never interfere.’
At that, I smiled. ‘Mothers who claim to keep out of things are generally covering up!’
Sextus’s mother was still upset by the accusation against him. ‘He has never had a temper. I taught him to respect even his slaves – certainly his wife! I cannot believe people are suggesting that he hits her.’
‘Please tell me honestly,’ said Tiberius, quietly, ‘have you ever seen Julia looking bruised?’
Vibia’s eyes widened. ‘People have accidents. Sextus had a black eye once himself. They have moods. Sometimes awkward little stand-offs. One person leaves the house in a rage. Someone refuses to appear at breakfast. Excursions are cancelled unexpectedly, with no real reason given. It happens to everyone in married life. We never discuss it. Oh, I feel so disloyal, saying this!’ Finally, Vibia admitted reluctantly, ‘I know there have been a few tempests that I did not want to hear about. Now! Who wants to finish lunch with fruit?’
She made it clear she would say no more to us on the subject.
41
I watched the children for a while, struck by how little impact their parents’ parting seemed to have. People will tell you very young children are resilient, though in my experience they feel things deeply. Frightened at what may happen if they say the wrong thing, they hide it. Of course, there are plenty of adults, too, who hope that not facing up to problems will make their pain go away.
There could be a very good reason why this boy and girl played so happily at the moment, why they had been exuberant the other day with their father, even though their mother was missing. When their parents were together, was there too much strain? Did they hate it? Children like their home to be peaceful and organised. Quarrels are frightening. Constant stress makes their lives dark and fearful.
‘And what about your grandchildren?’ I asked Vibia. I still wondered at Julia Optata for leaving them behind. She must have felt sure they were safe with her husband’s parents. In fact, I had myself seen that, whatever the wife’s position, the children seemed perfectly safe with Sextus.
‘Oh, I am used to looking after them,’ his mother replied breathlessly. ‘Young people today − they expect to land everything on Grandmama and Grandpapa, while they go about their own concerns. We never mind. We love having them. It keeps us young.’
That hoary old myth!
But there was no getting anything more out of Vibia: she made the excuse that her husband must be settled in his afternoon nap and left us, taking him.
Tiberius and I were silent while the slaves came to clear lunch.
I remained silent afterwards, fanning myself gently with one hand. Eventually he instigated a discussion by murmuring, ‘You don’t believe a word of it.’
I sighed. ‘He’s your friend. What do you think?’
‘I don’t want to believe it.’
I could not be hard on Tiberius. I merely said, ‘People never do.’
There was no strife between the two of us, even on this delicate subject. I knew what I thought about the situation and, even against his inclinations, Tiberius felt the same.
We sat on, quietly talking about other enquiries we had made that day. I reported on my two visits, to Trebonius and Primus. Faustus had been to see Arulenus, who stuck with the same story as his colleague: they had had no reason to attack Callistus Valens, and they had not done so. For their part, the Callisti had made aggressive legal moves to sue Arulenus for defamation and had also complained to the Senate that he offered threats of violence, in contravention of election rules. It had all gone quiet once Volusius Firmus stood down, so Arulenus was hoping to escape further trouble.
‘Collusion.’ I sniffed. ‘Exactly what Trebonius told me. We have a rare instance of two politicians agreeing on something!’
‘In order to further their own careers.’ Faustus was equally cynical.
He had also visited the wife of Niger. Her pompous agent now had his feet under the table, literally, and had made it impossible to re-interview her. He was using the ‘women must have guardians to speak for them’ throw of the dice. It found no favour with Faustus, I was glad to see.
‘How in Hades does that ridiculous fraud know what was said between the wife and her husband?’ he raged. ‘As far as I can gather, little was ever discussed at home − still, if I can ever manage a proper interview, there might be a useful detail to extract. Niger didn’t keep her entirely isolated. She certainly met this buffoon she is now employing.’
‘I want to ask her some time,’ I said, ‘if she knew another man who was seen at the auction talking to Niger. He bid on a statue. Intriguingly, he also fled without paying and has not been seen since.’
‘A ruse? A double ruse, if Niger concocted some plan with him?’