'That shipment of mine from Sidon has arrived at last.'
'That will be a relief to you. What held it up?'
'Bad winds off Cyprus...'
She passed him the potted salad. He was the sort of lump who sweated freely and frowned a lot as he ate fast and greedily. He might be thought coarse-but a woman who yearned for comforts would overlook that if his presents were generous. Severina treated him with a kind of formal respect; if she married him, her attitude would certainly work-provided she could keep up the deference (and he could keep alive).
He was generous. He had brought his betrothed a necklace of twenty violet amethysts. He handed it over almost as a routine exercise; she received the gift with quiet pleasure; I kept my cynical thoughts to myself.
'Falco here had a run-in this morning with a representative of Priscillus,' Severina remarked eventually.
Novus showed his first signs of interest in me. While I chewed on an olive modestly, she described me rescuing the old fruitseller from his landlord's enforcing agent. Novus barked with laughter. 'You want to watch that! Offending Priscillus can be hazardous to health!'
'What is he? Property tycoon?'
'Businessman.'
'Dirty business?'
'Normal business.' Novus was not interested in my views on men who peddle real estate.
Severina tackled her fiance in a thoughtful voice: 'Is Appius Priscillus getting above himself?'
'He's collecting his rents.'
'It seemed-'
Novus brushed her murmur aside: 'The tenant must have been owing-you cannot be sentimental about debt.' He behaved like a man who was used to being stubborn, though he did give her an indulgent look on the word 'sentimental'. 1 knew this type: hard as a Noricum knife-yet pleased to own a fluffy kitten who would act as a conscience for him. Fair enough-provided he listened when his conscience spoke.
Severina looked unconvinced, yet she fell silent without quarrelling. Just the sort of women to have at the lunch table: intelligent in conversation-but intelligent enough to show restraint... I began thinking about Helena Justina. When Helena had something on her mind she reckoned to make her point.
I found Severina quietly watching me; for some reason I revived the conversation Novus had crushed. 'Is this character Priscillus making you nervous, harrying the neighbourhood?'
The reassuring smile of a tactful hostess lit Severina's pale face. 'I take my advice from Hortensius Novus on business affairs!'
I should have known not to waste my breath.
As a final gesture to the Novus appetite we had cakes: just three (for it was lunch, not a banquet), but perfect gems of the pastry cook's art and elegantly displayed on a costly silver platter which Severina then presented to Novus. A gift from her to him looked as regular as her acquisition of the amethysts. It also gave him the indisputable right to lick the plate; his fat, sloppy tongue flickered over it, while I watched jealously.
He left shortly afterwards, with his platter under his elbow but still without any acknowledgement of why I was there. Severina went out with him, which gave an impression they were exchanging kisses in private. I heard a squawk of mockery from the parrot, anyway.
When the hostess came back I had swung myself upright on the dining couch and was giving the amethyst necklace a frank valuation, comparing its cost with her silver plate. 'I reckon Novus came out ahead financially today. That looks good, Zotica - nicely done!'
'You're so cynical it's pitiful.'
I stood up, and dangled the jewels from the fingers of one hand. 'Pretty - but one or two flaws which you'll soon spot. If it wasn't my job to drive a wedge between the two of you, I might warn the good Novus not to give gemstones to a girlie who has been through a lapidary's training...' She tried to take the necklace from me; I insisted on fastening it round her slender neck. 'Not quite right with blue.'
'No; amethysts are always difficult.' She remained impervious to my attempts to rile her.
'Time I was going.' I took both her hands in my own and bent over them gallantly. They were scented with a flowery fragrance which reminded me of the oil from the baths which Helena had taken to frequenting recently. Camomile must be the universal fragrance this month.
On her left hand Severina wore a massive gold betrothal ring with a red jasper stone. The false symbol of fidelity: one of those travesties where two hands, very badly drawn, are clasping each other. Novus had worn an identical ring. On the matching finger of her other hand was an elderly band of copper, its front flattened into a coin-shaped boss which was scratched with a simple picture of Venus. A cheap trinket. A memento, I guessed. Not many girls wear copper rings, because of the verdigris.
'That's pretty. From one of your husbands?'
'No; just a friend.'
'A man?'
'A man,' she agreed, as I pulled down my mouth to show what I thought of women who lived without a male protector yet had followers they called 'just friends'.
She took back her hands. 'What did you think of Novus?'
'He's too set in his ways, and you are far too bright for him-'
'Normal criteria for marriage!' she quipped defensively.
'Cobnuts! How long do you intend to waste your life coddling mediocre businessmen?'
'Better to do it while I have all my energy than later, when I may need coddling myself!'
'Ah, but meanwhile are you really the deferential type?...' She gave me an evasive smile. 'You implied Novus wanted to discuss something. He never told me.'
'He wanted to see if he liked you.'
'So did I impress the man?'
'I can tell you what he wanted, anyway. If you are going to be hanging round on hire to Pollia, there is something you could do for Novus too.'
'Sorry,' I replied at once, suspecting some plot of her own. 'I can only work for one client at a time. But I'd be interested in hearing what he wants.'
'Protection.'
'Ouch! I've still got bruises; don't make me laugh, Zotica!'
For once she lost patience. 'Must you always wield my slave-name like a Herculean club?'
'People should acknowledge their origins-'
'Hypocrisy!' she chipped back. 'You are a free citizen; you always were, you cannot know.'
'Wrong, Zotica. I know poverty, hard work, and hunger. I live with disillusionment. I face sneers from both the rich and rich men's slaves. My ambitions are as far beyond my reach as they would be for any chained wretch in a filthy hutch who builds the fires in bathhouses-'
'What ambitions?' she demanded, but things were already far too friendly for me.
We were still positioned in the dining room with me about to leave, but Severina seemed to want to delay me.