We set out before dawn. I was tired from lack of sleep and my stomach was out of sorts, but Tiro was in high spirits.
"I take it you didn't have the fish-pickle sauce last night," I said.
"Did Cicero break open a new jar? He must have been trying to impress Domitius. No, I ate simple fare. Nothing but millet porridge and roast pork off the spit."
"You ate outside with Domitius's men?"
"Of course. How else could I have gathered information from them? I posed as a freedman attached to the villa."
"You spied on Domitius? I thought he was Cicero's ally."
"I didn't spy on him. I simply talked to his men. They had a lot to say about the morale of Domitius's former troops, the size of Caesar's forces, the condition of the roads, and so on."
"What about the ambush Caesar supposedly set for Domitius after letting him go?"
Tiro smiled. "According to the men, there was an incident. A mail carrier passed them on the road just outside Corfinium."
"A mail carrier?"
"Yes, a lone man on horseback. Domitius panicked. He made his men hide in the bushes. They thought he might die of a heart attack. The ambush was entirely in his imagination!"
"Rather like the welcome that's waiting for him in Massilia, I suspect."
A sphinxlike expression crossed Tiro's face. "I wouldn't be too surprised if the Massilians welcome him with open arms. Open hands, anyway."
"What do you mean?"
Tiro slowed his mount and let Fortex ride ahead. "I appreciate your discretion last night, Gordianus. You said nothing to Domitius about me, even when my name was mentioned."
"I only did as you asked."
"And I thank you. I would appreciate it if you could be just as discreet about Domitius's visit to Cicero."
"Cicero wants it kept secret? Why?"
"He has his reasons."
I snorted. "Cicero won't join Pompey, he doesn't want it known that he's hosted Domitius- is he so fearful of offending Caesar?"
Tiro grimaced. "It's not that. All right, I'll tell you. Domitius didn't leave Corfinium empty-handed."
"He was stripped of his legions."
"Yes, but not of his gold. When Domitius arrived in Corfinium, he deposited six million sesterces in the city treasury. Most of it was public money he brought from Rome, for military expenses. Caesar could have seized it for himself, but I suppose he doesn't want to be seen as a thief. He returned the entire amount to Domitius when he set him free."
I sucked in a breath. "You mean Domitius and that ragtag retinue are transporting six million sesterces?"
"In trunks, loaded in wagons. You see now why he was so suspicious of Caesar and so fearful on the road."
"What will he do with all that money? Return it to the treasury in Rome?"
Tiro laughed. "He'll use it to go to Massilia and win over the Massilians, of course. But you see why Cicero doesn't want his visit made public. If the money vanishes- and who knows what might happen in the coming days?- and the trail leads back to Formiae, someone might presume that Domitius left it here with Cicero, for safekeeping. These are desperate times. That kind of rumor could draw cutthroats like grasshoppers to the green leaf. Whole households have been slaughtered for considerably less than six million sesterces, Gordianus. Cicero isn't ashamed of playing host to Domitius, and he isn't fearful for himself. But he has his family to think of. Surely you can understand that."