I found Helena on her balcony. I ran up and beamed at her; she was reclining with a beaker of cold water, sipping it uncertainly.
'Off colour?'
'Slow to wake up…' She smiled, with a private gleam that gave me a tickle in my throat.
'Look, the problem of Pertinax will depend on dispatches now. Don't expect an early adjudication from a gang of Palace clerks-' Helena gazed at me, assessing my reaction to last night's discovery. After a moment I muttered, 'How long have you known?'
'Since the night of the banquet.'
'You never said!'
'Are you jealous of Pertinax?'
'No, of course not…'
'Marcus!' she chided gently.
'Well what do you expect? When I walked in last night, I assumed he had come for the same reasons as me.'
'Oh I doubt it!' she laughed, in a dry tone. I was still sitting on the balcony parapet digesting this when someone brought me a messenger.
It was a slave from Herculaneum; Aemilius Rufus wanted to see me. I guessed this would be about Crispus. I had lost interest in Crispus-except for the fact that he was one quarry Vespasian had agreed to pay me for and I was desperate for cash.
I dismissed the servants while I tried to decide. Helena urged, 'It could be important; you ought to go.'
'Only if you stay with Petro and Silvia until I get back.'
'Gnaeus will never hurt me.'
'You don't know that,' I scowled, irritated by her use of his familiar name.
'He needs me.'
'I hope not! What for?'
By then I was so agitated she had to confess. 'This is bound to upset you. The Consul has convinced him he ought to remarry me.' She was right. I was upset. 'You would ask! Listen, Caprenius Marcellus has two great aims: salvaging a public career for Gnaeus, and obtaining an heir. A grandchild would secure the estate-'
'I don't want to hear this. You appal me sometimes; how can you even speak of it?'
'Oh, a girl does need a husband!' Helena suggested ironically.
It was completely unfair. I shrugged, struggling to express my own lack of status, and contacts, and cash. Then hopeless rage took over. 'Well you know what to expect from that one! Neglect, uninterest-and probably worse now! Did he beat you? Don't worry; he will!' Helena was listening with a set face as I crashed on like a loose heifer in a melon patch.
'Well, you're a man. I'm sure you know!' she retorted stiffly. I jumped down from my perch.
'You do what you want, my darling! If you need to be respectable, and you think that's the way, you go back to him-' I lowered my voice, restraining myself because she needed to remember this: 'But any time you've had enough of it, I'll come and fetch you out of it.' I was off along the balcony. 'That's called loyalty!' I threw back insultingly.
'Marcus!' she pleaded; I set my back and refused to answer her.