His easy charm and his flashy dark good looks had clearly made a deep impression on my wife. She was staring after him with an admiring smile. She turned to me. ‘Did you know he was not just a freeman but a citizen? He was telling me his father was an officer with the legions years ago. Got his citizenship when he retired, and then married — as he was entitled to by then — so his children were naturally entitled to the rank.’
There was something strangely irritating in her open admiration for the youth, so I just said, ‘Really?’ But she was not deterred.
‘No doubt that’s why he’s risen in the army quite so fast. He’s very young to be trusted with dispatches, you’d think. But he isn’t just an average courier; he’s attached to the provincial governor’s household in Londinium and rides all over the country with the imperial mail. That’s how Marcus came to notice him and ask permission to obtain his services. Imagine if little Amato could grow up to have a wonderful career like that.’
‘Virilis probably has a powerful patron somewhere,’ I said sourly. ‘Or his father has opened a few doors for him.’
‘But he must be a splendid horseman all the same,’ she enthused. ‘And Marcus seems to think a lot of him. Did you see the note he sent?’
Of course I had. Virilis had given it to me as soon as he arrived. It had been more than fulsome. I was suddenly tired of the wretched messenger and his obvious ability to charm. ‘I would not put too much reliance on that note,’ I said. ‘Marcus has a fondness for handsome youths like that and is always complimentary about their aptitudes — usually rather more so than they deserve. This Virilis may prove to be another. But now, as you were saying before he interrupted us, it is more than time we got back to entertain Amato’s guests.’
And, without pausing for an answer, I went back into the house.
Fourteen
It seemed to take an unconscionably long time for the last guest to leave — and that was actually the priest of Mars himself, who seemed peculiarly reluctant to depart as long as a morsel of roast lamb or wine remained. No wonder he was such a portly man. But at last we got him bundled to the gate and into the hiring-litter which he had arranged — and which, it transpired, had been waiting quite a time — and with cries of ‘Don’t forget to tell your patron, citizens’, he lurched off down the lane.
I turned to Junio, who was standing at my side. ‘Now, perhaps, we can set off into town ourselves. If you are still willing to accompany me, that is.’
He gave me the old familiar grin. ‘Of course. I am as anxious as you are to find news of Minimus. And even if we do not succeed in doing that, I can at least help you finish the Apollo piece today. I know that you are anxious to be paid for that.’
‘Especially after that expensive feast,’ I teased. But it was not entirely a joke. Even with this payment from Pedronius, money — or rather the lack of it — would be a problem soon. I had been relying on the Quintus contract for a handsome fee and had actually turned down several small commissions on the strength of it. The earnings from the Apollo piece would help to see me through, but I was glad to know my patron was returning very soon. Marcus might be very careful with his own expenditure, but he had enough influence with other purchasers to ensure that my household did not starve, however much ill omen was attaching to my shop.
Junio was laughing at my sally, though. ‘At least we shall not require to be fed before we leave! Let us go and tell the women what we plan.’ He led the way into his house again.
Cilla was sitting on a stool beside the central hearth, looking exhausted after the excitements of the day, but flushed with a triumphant pleasure too. Gwellia, assisted by the villa slaves, was busy collecting bowls and spoons to wash in the water that Kurso was no doubt collecting from the spring. Amato — the centre of all this activity — was back in his sleeping hammock, dreaming peacefully.
I looked at Junio.
‘That was a successful ritual, I think,’ he said. ‘But now. .’
‘You are going to go and look for Minimus, I hope,’ my wife replied. ‘Take Maximus to help you. We can manage here. With the slaves from the villa, we have a lot more hands to help than we would have done if Minimus was here. So you go and find him, and good luck to you. Kurso, where’s that water?’ And she plunged her hands into a metal bowl and set to work to scrub it with a handful of rough sand.
We took this as a signal to depart. We did not change out of our togas — we would get more respect from sentries and people as we were, and we could soak down to our tunics if we went to the villa to strip the linen off the plaque. However, we did pause to seize a cloak and staff apiece, and I took a few sesterces from the household store so that I could settle with Radixrapum when he came. Then Junio and I set out to walk to town, with Maximus trotting after us with my box of tools and the spare birrus which Kurso had worn home.
It is a long walk, even in daylight, and — though of course I do not often travel at this time of day — the old track through the woods seemed unnaturally empty. Yet the forest was full of disturbing rustling sounds and a distant howling which might have been a dog or wolf, but — to my over-anxious ears — could have been a rebel signal from somewhere in the trees. Moreover, for a long time we scarcely saw a souclass="underline" only a farmer with a panniered donkey lumbering along, who moved grumblingly aside to let us pass. Of course, there were three of us and we were armed with staves, but I could not keep the thought of brigands from my mind.
So when I heard the sound of hoof-beats following, my heart began to pound. I glanced at Junio and saw that his face was set and tense, and — though neither of us voiced our fears in front of Maximus — I knew he shared my thoughts. This section of the lane route is muddy and particularly steep, and it is rare to find a horseman who will choose to come this way at all. But the hoof-beats were coming closer and ever closer still, until they slowed and seemed to follow us.
I stole a furtive glance and saw a hooded figure on a horse.
He came up beside us, reined his mount and stopped.
‘On your way to Glevum, citizen?’ the rider said, and I recognized the cultured tones of Virilis. He was smiling down at me with that over-charming smile that my wife had found so irresistible. ‘I would have offered to take you if you had been alone — I’m sure that my horse could have accommodated us both.’
I thanked him as politely as I could, in a voice still weak with shock. ‘But I have not been on a horse at all for many years and certainly never riding pillion.’ It was true. I would never have considered such an offer anyway — particularly from an over-pampered pet like him.
He laughed. ‘Then perhaps it’s just as well. It would not in any case have been a comfortable ride — this route is much more steep and winding than I had supposed. No wonder so few horsemen seem to come this way.’ He paused. ‘Well, if you’re sure there’s nothing I can do? Your patron would expect me to help you if I could. Perhaps I could take that box for you, at least,’ he went on with a smile. ‘It is heavy for your slave. I could easily leave it at your workshop later on — I have to pass that way in any case.’
I was obscurely irritated by this suggestion too. ‘Thank you, but I shall require it later on. Maximus can manage very easily,’ I said ungraciously, trying to ignore the disappointed look that crossed the page’s face.
‘Then I will not delay you. I have many calls to make. Arrangements for your patron when he gets back,’ he said. ‘Quintus Severus is planning an enormous feast, and half the population of Glevum will be there. And there is a special meeting of the curia today. There has been a change of plan. I am to ride and tell His Excellence the result. I will give him your greetings and your latest news. Give my respects to both your charming wives.’ He doffed his feathered hat and cantered off again.