I nodded to Martin, who got up and filled her a cup of wine. I waited for her to drain it and hold it out for a refill. She took a more delicate sip now, and then reached inside her robe for a sheet of papyrus. She smiled again and pushed it at me across the desk. The sheet had been reused more than once, and the imperfect cleaning, together with the crossings out and other amendments to its present listing, was a proper mess. I got up and took it over to the side window, where a shaft of late afternoon sunlight gave me a better view.
‘I want twenty-five slaves,’ I said eventually. ‘I want all males except for five experienced lady’s maids — and everyone fit for heavy cleaning work.’ I paused. ‘I don’t want anyone who was born in Athens. If it means some of them have to be unbroken prisoners of war, I’ll take a chance.’
Irene tipped her head back and laughed. ‘O mercy, mercy!’ she cried. ‘You won’t get no local-born slaves in this place — not with all them stories.’
I looked up. ‘What stories might those be?’ I asked sharply.
She laughed again and finished her wine.
Ignoring his scared look, I nodded once more to Martin, and watched as he poured out most of the jug.
‘Oh, witches and ghosts and all that, lovey,’ she said vaguely. I waited for her to go on. She leaned forward and put the cup on my desk. ‘But don’t you go worry yourself with those old stories,’ she said. ‘It was all a long time ago, and I’m a woman of business.’
‘These ones have Slavic names,’ I said, putting the list in front of her and jabbing at a whole block of listings. ‘I want those. These others have names I can’t recognise, but are listed as experienced in houses of quality. I want them all cleaned up and given a change of clothes. I need them here at the latest by noon tomorrow. I’m giving a late dinner, and I want everything ready for that. If they aren’t here by noon, I’ll come looking in person for your husband — bad legs or none.’
She peered uncertainly at her list. ‘If it’s money you’re short of, dear, I’m sure we can reach some agreement,’ she said. ‘It’s not every day we gets to deal with the Emperor’s man.’ She put the list down and cleared her throat. I thought for a moment she was looking for somewhere to spit. But the moment passed, and she swallowed the gob. ‘These ones you’ve chose isn’t fit for nothing better than the mines. If I might suggest-’
I cut her off with a blank stare. She shrugged, and we turned to the matter of pricing. That took up about as long as I’d expected. There’s a limit to how far you go with the Emperor’s Legate, but Irene went right up to that limit, and then a little beyond. We got there in the end, though.
‘I can’t say how long I’ll be in Athens,’ I said. ‘But I prefer to buy slaves. I’ve never known hiring to go very well.’ I uncovered a few of the gold coins. Her eyes widened, and she smiled eagerly.
I got up. Irene remained seated. ‘Martin, do give the lady a tour of the residency,’ I said. ‘Make it clear which parts will need attention and which can be ignored. If it seems that more slaves will be needed, I leave that to your own discretion.’ I looked down at Irene. ‘You can give me your account after I’ve had a look at the slaves.’ I paused and waited for her to get up slowly. ‘I’d rather not have to send any back,’ I said with quiet emphasis.
‘Now, Martin,’ I went on in Latin, ‘I’m sure this dear lady came over with the same retinue of thugs we saw with her in the market place. Do borrow some of them for protection and get yourself over to where the Dispensator is staying. I think it’s the big monastery halfway up the Areopagus Hill. Give him my regards. Add whatever else may put him into a better mood than he had when writing his letter. Ask him to meet us tomorrow by the Column of Theodosius. He can then take us to where Felix lives.’ I handed the letter to Martin.
He looked at the return address and nodded.
‘And, while you’re in the area,’ I went on, ‘drop in on the local Bishop. I didn’t see him yesterday in Piraeus, but he should be in town. Present my most loving compliments and all the rest. Above all, see if he’s done more than our friend the Count to get this council under way on Sunday. It will, I very much think, be where the Areopagus Court used to have its meetings. I can at least hope he’s made sure there will be enough seats there for everyone.’ I had a further thought. ‘Oh, and do check if everyone has been invited to dinner tomorrow afternoon.’
He nodded again. I’d given all the dinner invitations to Nicephorus. There was no certainty any of them had been delivered. ‘I’d like you to stay for as long a gossip as it takes to see if those priests have done anything since they arrived except bitch to and about each other. Our job is to see that the right seals get fixed below the right form of words to flash round Constantinople and the Eastern Patriarchates. It will help if our council doesn’t go as badly as that act of clerical love we witnessed on the Acropolis.’
I crossed over to the door. I opened it and waited for Irene to take the hint. As she passed through with Martin, I plucked at his sleeve. ‘And do try to be back while it’s light enough for a proper look round this building,’ I whispered. ‘I’d like to see it by day — and all of it. We also need to make an inventory of the kitchen. I want to see how bare the cupboards are before I start ordering in supplies. We can’t serve up another dinner tomorrow of stewed river frog.’ I grinned at the pained face Martin pulled. I’d avoided mentioning it at the time. But my nose had told me that there was some place behind one of the Caryatids that would — bearing in mind how often it was cleaned — be for ever Ireland.
Alone, I sat down again and nerved myself for what was left of the wine. I stared at a wall painting that may have copied the Venus Rising from the Sea by Apelles. Some patches of blue had fallen off with the underlying plaster, and been replaced with rough grey. Otherwise, this may have been the best surviving painting in the residency. The sun was dipping down in the west, and would soon disappear behind one of the towers of the rear block of the residency. For the moment, it shone through the side window and made my uncovered gold glitter as if it had been alive.
I stood up. I had no idea how long Martin would be. Might it be worth restarting my tour of the building alone?
Chapter 27
I bumped into Nicephorus as I emerged from a long gallery that had busts of all the emperors to the time of Arcadius. He was sweating from the weight of a large wooden box he’d been trying to push all by himself along the corridor. He gave me the shifty look of a man who’s been caught in some questionable act. Then he straightened up and grinned back at me. ‘My Lord is satisfied with the glories of Athens?’ he asked as his eyes darted everywhere but into my face.
‘They’d have been a sight better without you or your bloody friends!’ I might have said. But this would never have done. I could instead have mentioned the interpreters. Again, that would have led into areas I didn’t yet choose to visit. So I smiled happily as if I still hadn’t noticed the stinking slum he’d made of the residency and asked if he needed a hand with his box.
He bent straight down again and hugged the box. He looked up at me from the corners of his eyes. ‘Oh no, My Lord,’ he said with a hint of triumph. ‘I’d not dream of spoiling your fine outgoing clothes.’
I looked harder at the box. From the sound it had made on the dirty tiles of the floor, it was rather heavy — but was too big to be wholly filled with gold. That would have needed more than one man to push along. I wondered briefly if it might be worth waiting till he’d pushed it round the corner, and then sneaking after him. But I put this thought out of mind.
‘It is as you wish,’ I said. ‘Please be aware, though, that I’ve arranged a few dozen slaves of my own for my stay here. When you have a moment, I’d be most grateful if we could sit together and work out their accommodation and duties in the residency.’