The freedman deliberately folded his arms. Calmly he refused to speak. All the others were silent too. Well, most of them were used to keeping secrets. What was one more? Justinus was wasting his time; nobody here would own up.
If Rubirius Metellus had been the defiant character they said, I could believe that he had surreptitiously removed money from Saffia's grasp and invested it where the son he had loved could benefit. It would be untraceable, no question. If it was the proceeds of the corruption, he would have had to make sure even the Treasury could not unravel his dealings and reclaim the cash. It would have been cash, of course. Backhanders are.
Aelianus now joined in with his brother, addressing the freedman in a haughty tone: `People will think that you are Negrinus' father. Are you?' he badgered, always blunt.
`No.' Julius Alexander had long mastered self-control. It was the first time he had spoken. He might as well not have bothered.
`You should be prepared for people to believe it!'
`If it helps,' Alexander smiled.
`But why must you leave?' Justinus rounded angrily on Negrinus. `Why not admit there is a question mark over your origins, and just brazen things out? Rome is stuffed with men who have suspect paternity. Some great names, starting with Augustus, have been subject to rumours.'
Helena touched my arm. `Leave it alone,' I ordered her brother.
She stood up and went over to him. `Quintus, imagine it. For thirty years Metellus Negrinus had thought he belonged to a family -'
Justinus was beyond stopping. `Yes – and if his parents and his sisters had all turned their backs when they found out, Negrinus would have lost everything, including his identity. But he has their support. He's lucky. It's clear his father – even though he was not his father – loved him.'
Rubiria Carina now went to Negrinus. She put her arm around him. `We all love him. He grew up with us. He is part of us. Nothing will ever change that.'
`You were the angriest,' Justinus reminded her. `You even caused a scene at the funeral.'
`That was before I knew the truth,' Carina retorted. Though she was a charitable woman, as she remembered being left out of the secret, her face darkened. `All I saw for several years was bad feeling and inexplicable financial mismanagement.'
Helena continued with Justinus. `Allow him a new beginning, Quintus. He will take his young children and make what he can of the world. I believe he will do it stalwartly.'
Justinus capitulated. He had always been a decent sort. We could trust him not to inflict unnecessary pain on people.
Verginius Laco made the formal speech to finish – or so he intended.
`We are most grateful for your discretion. We all feel you have acted in a most supportive manner to Negrinus. He will be leaving Rome shortly with Julius Alexander, and in due course as you surmise, he will begin a new life under a new name, we hope in far happier circumstances.'
He had not reckoned with my two young associates. They were still boiling over. `But Negrinus cannot leave Rome. What about the court case?' demanded Justinus, finding a new reason to argue.
Laco quietly had the answer: `It was announced today that there will be no court case.'
`Silius and Paccius have withdrawn?' Aelianus exclaimed eagerly.
`Reason prevails!' Laco remarked drily, before adding, `The Senate will not allow the charge to proceed. The grounds cited in the Daily Gazette will be that the Senate will not permit the pursuit of public wrongs for the purposes of private vengeance.'
`This makes no mention of Saffia killing Metellus? So it appears,' I said, `as if everything relates to the original corruption case? Paccius and Silius are being reprimanded for hounding the Metelli -'
`As they have done,' said Laco, rather curtly. `Everyone can see that.' I began to suspect his influence in this Senate vote. In fact, he looked tired. I wondered if he had been spending hard effort on lobbying colleagues. He admitted frankly, `It is of no interest to us to have it made known what Saffia did.'
Of course not. Never mind that she was a murderess. If they damned her in public, her blackmail had to be explained; the secret she knew would become public knowledge.
`She is dead. We cannot punish her. And we have to protect her children. Her father,' said Laco, `has stepped in with remedies. Donatus, a decent type, is to adopt Saffia's young son Lucius – Lutea has agreed to it – and Donatus is pleased to do so, having no sons of his own. Then, to protect Lucius and the other children from being sullied by their mother's past actions, Donatus will make certain payments from the money and goods Saffia had carried off. He will take responsibility for the payment Silius Italicus won in the corruption case. And I believe he will also cover certain "expenses" for Paccius Africanus.'
`The compensation was a million and a quarter,' Helena reminded him coolly.
Verginius Laco smiled. `I understand Silius will accept a lesser sum, as a compromise.
`Why?' Like her brothers, Helena did not shy from the awkward question, though her tone was less abrasive.
`Why?' Laco seemed surprised to be challenged.
`Why is Silius Italicus prepared to compromise?'
Without her insistence, Verginius Laco would not have paid the compliment: `The ethical queries raised by Didius Falco against both Silius and Paccius may be a factor. They were embarrassed by the speech he made. It could interfere with their present and future standing.'
Helena justina gave him a gracious smile. `Then we are glad Falco made the speech! And what about the loss of Rubirius Metellus?'
Laco was terse. `Donatus will make reparation.'
His children had accepted a payoff. Perhaps that was justice. Certainly the law would say so.
`So the family is content. But are you sure,' I asked him, `neither Silius nor Paccius will want a formal verdict on the murder? Are their payments from Donatus enough to make them forget such a terrible crime was committed?'
`They are informers,' said Laco. Perhaps he forgot I was one. `Pursuing money appeals to them more than pursuing wrongs.'
We had one last awkward question. Just when everything seemed over, Aelianus doggedly came out with it: `There is just one thing nobody has explained yet. All the fuss has been because Negrinus is an interloper. So – who was his real father?'
Helena was too far away to cuff him round the ears. Rubiria Carina spoke up at once: `That we do not know. And since my mother is now dead,' she continued wanly, `I am afraid we will never know.'
Aelianus suspected she was lying. A raised finger from his own sister made him hold his peace.
I myself thought that Carina was telling the truth. Though, like the rest of them throughout this sad story, she was not telling all of it.
LVII
IT WAS made apparent subtly that we were to take our leave. Falco and Associates withdrew from the white and gold salon, leaving the family of Rubirius Metellus to reflect on the end to their difficulties.
The Camillus brothers stood with Helena and me as we waited for our bearers. Canidianus Rufus, who had stormed out earlier, was already prowling the atrium; his wife's litter stood ready and he was hanging around for Juliana.
After a glance at the others, I walked across to him. `All very enlightening!'
He grunted. As a mode of expression it was minimal, but suited his personality. Even amongst a family he approved of, this man would have been restless and abrasive. Today he was ready to boil over. He glared at me through eyes like slits.
`Of course they have not admitted the whole story.' I implied that I knew anyway. `I don't care for letting a murderess get away with it – and they haven't thought about Lutea. He intends trouble, depend on it. He needs money far too much to stop.'
Canidianus Rufus was hopping from foot to foot, praying for his wife to arrive and free him. But they had brainwashed him into keeping their secrets and he managed to remain silent.