'Wait until Catilina's rebuttal to Cicero in the Senate this afternoon. What Catilina has to say will be on everyone's lips. Everyone in Rome will know the riddle then.'
'Tell it to me now, Marcus Caelius—'
At that moment a hush fell over the garden, and heads turned towards the hallway that led to the private chambers, from which Rufus had emerged in augur's dress. He was resplendent in his trabea, a woollen robe ornamented with a purple border and saffron-coloured stripes. In his right hand he carried a long, slender wand made of ivory and decorated with carvings of ravens, crows, owls, eagles, vultures, and chickens, as well as foxes, wolves, horses, and dogs — all the various birds and quadrupeds from whose actions the augurs interpret the will of the gods.
Rufus spoke, his voice full of authority. "The time has come for Meto to set foot in the Forum wearing his manly toga, and to ascend with me to the Temple of Jupiter for the reading of the auspices.'
I looked around and saw that Marcus Caelius was gone.
XIX
With many wishes of goodwill, the guests dispersed. The kitchen slaves, brooded over by Bethesda and Menenia, began to clear the tables and return the uneaten food to earthen jars. Eco summoned the rest of the household slaves and looked them over to be sure they were clean and presentable. A Roman commands no respect in the Forum unless he has a retinue — the longer the retinue, the greater the respect — and as Cicero says, a slave takes up as much space as a citizen. Our retinue would be small, but with Rums at its head it would be distinguished. Mummius, too, declared that he and Apollonius would walk with us. Making up the balance were a few other citizens and freedmen, men who owed favours to Eco or had long been bonded to our family by ties of mutual obligation.
We departed down the narrow pathway to the Subura, where our hired litters waited. Diana was left at home (and hardly protested, thanks to some soothing from Menenia), so I shared my litter with Bethesda. Eco rode with Menenia, and Meto, in the foremost litter, with Rufus. I felt some chagrin at having no place to offer Marcus Mummius, but he forestalled my apologies by declaring he would never accept a ride on the back of slaves so long as he still had two good legs to walk on. There followed the predictable boasting about great distances traversed while on campaign; Mummius claimed to have once covered sixty miles in a single day on a rocky mountain road, wearing battle armour.
We settled ourselves in the Utters and were lifted above the crowd. The carriers bore us into the Subura Way with our retinue following behind.
Bethesda was silent for a while, watching the people on the street and scrutinizing the vendors and their wares. She missed the bustle of the city, I thought 'It went very well,' she finally said.
'Yes.'
"The food was excellent'
'Quite. Even by our usual standards, and Congrio spoils us.' 'The yellow canopy was a good idea.' 'Yes, the sun is strong today.' 'And the litters are rather fun.'
'A treat,' I agreed. For such a light conversation, Bethesda's voice was oddly flat, and her face was pensive as she watched the people of the Subura go by. 'I saw that our neighbour Claudia made an appearance.'
'Didn't she speak to you?'
'No.'
'Well, she left abruptly. She made the mistake of bringing along her cousin Manius. He was rather abusive and made a bit of a scene, but it ended badly for him. Did you see it?'
'No, I must have been busy in the kitchen. But I heard about it later. Eco says the man made a fool of himself. Was he really slipping food into his toga?'
'I'm afraid so.'
'How absurd! He must be as rich as Crassus.'
'You exaggerate, I'm sure, but I doubt that Manius ever goes hungry. These country Claudii are an odd lot They appear to have an exceedingly grasping and stubborn nature.' Even Claudia, I thought, was distinguished by her miserly hatred of waste.
'And there was someone else who came to the party…'
'Yes?'I said
'That young man who visited us some while ago. The one who prevailed upon you to play host to Catilina. The handsome one.' 'Marcus Caelius.'
'Yes. I had no chance to speak to him, either.'
I tried not to smile. 'Now, Bethesda, I understand your regret at missing a second opportunity to charm such a good-looking young man—'
She turned her face from the street. Her expression stopped me cold.
'Husband do you really think I would brood this way over a lost chance to flirt? What was Marcus Caelius doing in our house today?'
Her face was drawn, like a garment worn too tightly, and her eyes had a haunted look that turned my heart to water. She was not angry, but frightened.
'Bethesda!' I reached out to put my arm around her, but she shrugged off my embrace.
'Don't coddle me like a slave. Tell me why that man came to Meto's party. What did he want from you?'
‘Very well. He came, he said, to deliver apologies from Cicero for not coming in person.'
'Did he ask more favours of you?' When I hesitated to answer, Bethesda's eyes flashed. 'I knew it! What will he have us doing this time? Does this involve Catilina again?'
'Bethesda, I told Caelius in no uncertain terms that my obligation was already discharged.'
'And did that satisfy him?'
Again I hesitated, and the spark in her eyes ignited. 'I knew it! More trouble!'
'Not necessarily, Bethesda.'
'How can you say that! Do you know how I've worried since Diana found that horrible body in the stable? I will not have such things going on around us!'
'Then we should probably do whatever Caelius demands.'
'No!'
'Yes! Satisfy him — and whomever he really represents, whether it's Cicero or Catilina or—' For the first time it occurred to me that Caelius might actually be representing some other party.
'You must not deal with him,' Bethesda insisted.
'He asks very little.'
'So far! But it will come to something horrible. When we left the city, you said you would leave such things behind.'
'I did leave them, Bethesda. They followed me.' 'But this is different. This is not your way, to do things without knowing why. You've always been an open and honest man, even when you worked in secret.'
'That doesn't quite make sense, Bethesda.'
'You know what I mean!'
I sighed. 'Yes, I do. The duplicity that Caelius forces on me doesn't sit well with me, either. In truth, I dread it.' Without intention, as naturally as a child, I reached for her hand and twined my fingers with hers. 'I'm frightened, too, Bethesda. Frightened and dismayed and a little disgusted — and proud and elated and sentimental, because this is Meto's toga day! If only our lives could be one thing at a time, instead of this mad jumble’
It was my turn to become pensive and watch the street pass by. 'Bethesda, when I was young and beginning to make my way in the world pursuing the work that my father did, there was one thing he made me promise that I would never do — use my skills to capture runaway slaves. It was an easy promise for me to make, and I've never broken it, for I have no appetite for such work. Over the years I added another promise to myself— that I would not become a spy for the state, or ever become a dictator's secret policeman if the Republic should fall prey to another Sulla, Jupiter forbid.