A Roman Ransom (17 page)

But today he was more concerned with other things – and this interview was not the doctor’s doing, it appeared. ‘Libertus,’ Marcus burst out, ‘I have news for you. My page has just returned. You remember that he went to Glevum overnight?’

I nodded, wondering what this was leading to.

‘Then you will remember what else he was to do this morning on his way?’

I did, of course. ‘Call at my roundhouse and accompany my wife?’ I looked round, feeling a broad smile crease my face. ‘She’s here, then? Where is she? Can I talk to her?’

Marcus carefully avoided looking at my face. ‘That is just the problem. There was no one at the house.’

Despite my heavy woollen coverings I felt a tide of coldness running over me, starting at my feet and rising to my hair. Gwellia, missing! Whatever I’d imagined, I had not expected that.

Marcus cleared his throat. ‘Try not to be alarmed. It may be nothing, after all. She did not know the page was going to come, and she might have set off to come here on her own . . .’ He trailed off.

‘In that case she would have been overtaken on the road.’ My lips framed the words, but little sound came out. My throat was suddenly constricted and my heart beat fast. ‘Where is the page?’ I said.

‘He’s waiting in the ante-room. I’ll have him brought to you.’ Marcus nodded towards Junio, who disappeared to fetch the page at once. My patron turned to me, making a helpless little gesture with his hands. ‘Libertus, we don’t know that anything is wrong. She may have gone off to pick up kindling – or anything at all. She had her slaves with her. That is encouraging. A woman attended by her slaves is much safer from’ – I was sure that he was going to say ‘attack’, but he changed it hastily – ‘anything at all that might befall.’

‘You know the slaves are with her?’ I was almost sharp. I was beginning to understand how Marcus must have felt when he found that his wife and child had disappeared.

His Excellence looked sheepish. ‘Well, that’s what we presume. At all events there was no one in the house. But here’s the page. He’ll tell you about it. Pulcrus, tell the citizen what you found.’

The young man ran a hand across his hair, adjusted his tunic at the neck and seams and gave a self-important little cough before he spoke. I’d many times smiled at his vanity before, but this morning I could have shaken him. All this preening self-conceit when my poor Gwellia was missing! I strove for self-control.

‘Well?’ I prompted. ‘What have you to report? You rode up to my house and found the lady wasn’t there – and then what did you do?’

Pulcrus looked aggrieved. ‘Nothing. What was there to do? The place was clearly empty. The fire was out, the floor was swept and everything was neatly put away. I went up to the door and called, but no one came. I stuck my head round the other doors – there was a dyeing house and some sort of sleeping space – but there was nobody there either so I came away.’

‘There was no one in the garden or with the animals?’ I said.

He shrugged. ‘Not that I could see. Or if they were, they must have been completely deaf. I shouted loud enough, but there was not a sound, except the chickens squawking in the coop.’

‘Pulcrus, be less insolent to the citizen, or I shall have you whipped.’ Marcus’s voice was cold.

But I was trying to visualise the scene. ‘So there was no sign of any struggle in the house?’ I said. ‘And she didn’t leave a note of any kind?’

‘Not as far as I could see.’ Pulcrus was looking sulky now.

‘And the fire was completely out, you say?’ That was unusual; it took a long time to create a spark to light another one. ‘And yet the chickens had been shut up for the night? That’s what you’re telling me?’

‘It seems so – and that’s really all there is to tell.’ Pulcrus turned towards his master with a smirk. ‘Except that the ransom bag had vanished from the tree – I did stop and check for that.’

‘Then go! Wait in the servants’ room again – I may have need of you.’ Pulcrus flounced off, and Marcus turned to me. ‘What do you make of it? Like Julia, it’s almost as if she left the place by choice. Only my wife disappeared alone and Gwellia took the slaves.’

When I recalled it afterwards, I realised that this was the first time I had heard my patron admit that Julia might have left the villa of her own accord; but I was too wrapped up in my own concerns to register it then.

I shook my head. ‘But if Kurso left the chickens in the coop, it sounds as if he expected to be back. He would not leave them without food for long.’

My patron was standing close to me, and to my surprise he reached across and patted my shoulder with his jewelled hand. It was an awkward, fleeting gesture which came uneasily to him – Romans are not given to contact as a rule – but I understood that he meant to signal sympathy.

‘Well,’ he said, ‘there is nothing we can do for now but wait.’ He looked at me. ‘What do you think, Libertus? Have you any theories at all? Do you suspect this is connected to the kidnapping?’

I was too deep in misery to think at all. I said, ‘I suppose it must be.’

‘Old friend, you don’t know anything that you’re not telling me?’

I raised my head, which had been in my hands, and stared at him. ‘Of course not, Excellence.’

‘The doctor thinks you do. And certainly the situation’s odd.’

I didn’t follow him. I was only thinking about Gwellia. ‘Odd, Excellence?’

‘Why should the kidnappers change their methods, suddenly? Writing on a tablet instead of bits of bark?’

I shrugged. ‘Ran out of bits of bark, perhaps? Who knows?’

He shook his head. ‘I’m sure it’s more than that. Philades is right. That last message was completely different. It ignored the arrangements that had been asked for earlier, and, though it was scrawled untidily, it was better written too. You think that someone different may have written it? Or dictated it, perhaps? And why have they suddenly seized Gwellia – if they have? Libertus, think! This may affect you, too.’

‘I don’t know,’ I said unhappily. ‘One of the problems with this whole affair is that it seems to have been cleverly executed – the abduction is still a mystery to me – and the plans meticulously laid. Then suddenly everything is changed – the child’s return, the note thrown over the wall with new demands. And why should they want Gwellia? I can’t be blackmailed for a ransom price.’ I sighed. ‘I don’t understand. Perhaps it is intended to make us more confused.’

Marcus was on his feet again by now and running restless fingers through his hair. I knew just how he felt. I could feel the cold despair run up my spine every time I thought about my wife. If the kidnappers were hoping to create anxiety, I thought, they could not have done it more successfully.

I was about to say so to my patron when there was a tap upon the door.

‘Master?’ It was Pulcrus, all self-conceit again. He bowed. After that earlier reproof for insolence, he was especially pompous now. ‘Forgive me for intruding. A mounted messenger has come here, from the garrison . . . Something that occurred just after I had left.’

‘Well, show him in then.’ Marcus looked at me. ‘It might be some news of Lallius at last. According to my page, a guard was posted in the street all day, keeping a discreet watch on his house. But Lallius has not been seen at all since his release.’

Pulcrus was at the door again, accompanied by an imperial messenger, resplendent in his purple-edged cape and uniform. Even Pulcrus must have felt a little drab.

The newcomer came to kneel at Marcus’s feet. He’d learned his speech by heart. ‘The commander tenders his respects to your most gracious Excellence and begs to offer his report.’ He glanced warily at me and Junio.

‘You may speak freely,’ Marcus said. ‘The residence of Lallius is still under constant watch?’

‘Indeed, Excellence. It is his father’s house, in fact – the coin inspector, old Numidius. Lallius did not return last night – it’s possible that he has fled the town – and we have seen no one come or go except the household slaves. However, a young woman was discovered shortly after dawn, loitering around the entrance to the house. She was dressed in servant’s clothing, but she is not part of the coin inspector’s household – we know all of them.’

Marcus exchanged a look with me, then barked, ‘I trust that you arrested her at once? She may have information. Most probably she is a messenger.’

‘Naturally, Excellence!’ The man looked affronted that my patron should ask. ‘They took her to the cells and questioned her.’

‘And?’

‘And she denies that she has ever met the family.’ The soldier permitted himself the suspicion of a smile. ‘But we know better. She was talking to a servant from the household in the street – one of our spies was watching all the time. And she was seen in the same area last night at dusk, as well. There was an older woman with her then. She won’t say who it was – or admit to anything. The commander was about to have her stripped and scourged, to find out what she knew, but suddenly she claimed your protection, Excellence.’

‘What?’

‘Claims that she was recently a servant to your wife, and says she would account for herself to you and you alone. Well, of course, when the commander heard that, he did not proceed. He said that you had asked to have all suspects brought to you, in any case, so he had her put in chains and he’ll be sending her to you as soon as an escort and transport cart can be arranged. That is what I am sent to report. In the name of his most serene and divine imperial majesty the Emp—’

Marcus interrupted. ‘Never mind all that. You are dismissed. Pulcrus, bring him refreshment in the servants’ waiting room.’ The two went out and Marcus looked at me. ‘Myrna – do you think?’

My thoughts had been following exactly the same track. ‘And her mother, by the sound of it. They went to Glevum yesterday. And if she’s been arrested, we know why she has not come here today.’

‘It seems she did have some connection with Lallius, then.’ Marcus was looking seriously upset that someone in his household might betray him in this way.

It was my turn to comfort him. ‘Unless she was just calling at his house to bargain for your family’s release? She was fond of Marcellinus, I believe.’

Marcus brightened for a moment and then shook his head. ‘If she was innocent she couldn’t know about the kidnappers’ demands. She wasn’t here. How could she have guessed that Lallius was involved? I have told nobody except yourselves – apart from the chief priest.’

He had forgotten that the page had ears, I thought. It was likely that the whole household knew by now. But even that would not explain the facts. Pulcrus had not seen Myrna since the ransom note arrived.

‘So it seems that she knew Lallius after all,’ I said.

‘But how? How does a wet nurse meet a man like that? And how could she possibly have abducted Julia? Myrna was here inside the villa all along.’

‘She might have helped the kidnappers,’ I pointed out. ‘Or laid a trap for Julia, to entice her to go out of her own accord. She was the only servant near her at the time.’

Marcus sighed. ‘Well, we have ways of finding out. Even if you don’t approve of them. And this time, Libertus, I shan’t hesitate to use them. The wretched girl will tell us everything she knows. To think we trusted her! Jove give me strength. The sooner they get her here the better, though it will take an hour or so. Then perhaps we’ll find out something significant at last. In the meantime, I suppose, we shall just have to beg for patience from the gods.’

Gods or not, I knew at once it was impossible for me to simply wait and see. I wanted to do something – anything! – which might help to resolve this mystery. Gwellia was gone! Marcus had been living with this sort of strain for days, and I began to see why he had been rushing to and fro, content to drive to Glevum twice in a single day. When you are consumed with worry, sitting still leaves too much time for thought. Action, of any sort, is comforting.

Yet what was there to do? I had planned to question Myrna, and that was not possible – not until she got here, anyway. I might have brought the other villa servants in and talked to them, perhaps, but it seemed that there was little they could add. Anyway, I was not convinced that I could concentrate.

I needed to do something physical – to be out beyond the walls, looking for some trace of Gwellia. I was desperate to visit the empty roundhouse, too, in case there was something that the page had missed – anything at all that might bring me closer to finding my missing wife. Yet clearly I was in no state to walk anywhere at all. And then a stratagem occurred to me.

‘If Myrna has had dealings with Lallius before, it’s probable her family would know. I wonder, Excellence, if it would be wise to go down there and round up the sister and the child, so we can question them. If you would give me transport, I could go down myself.’ He looked a little doubtful, and I added hastily, ‘I could look in at the roundhouse on the way, as well, in case there’s anything the page has overlooked.’

Marcus was still running his fingers through his hair. He looked at me sadly. ‘It might be useful to do as you suggest. I might come with you, too. Anything is better than simply waiting here.’

‘Then I may use the carriage, or a cart at least?’ I was glad of his suggestion that he’d accompany me. I am no rider, and I did not want a horse.

I rather expected him to agree at once, but all he answered was, ‘We’ll see what the doctor has to say.’

I thought I knew what Philades would say, and I was not mistaken. When he was summoned and his opinion asked, he was quick to declare that such an outing was not wise at all. ‘In the patient’s current state of health, it might even be dangerous,’ he finished, screwing his wrinkled face into a sneer.

‘Come now, medicus,’ I countered. ‘Only yesterday, as I understand, you were actually prescribing carriage rides. And it seems that you were right. That little journey in the cart has clearly done me good.’ In fact I was feeling as flimsy as a flower, but I was determined not to show it. I would investigate my wife’s disappearance if it took all the strength I had.

Before he could say another word, I had risen unsteadily to my feet and taken a faltering step towards the door. (I had to flash a warning glance at Junio, otherwise I knew he’d try to help, but I wanted to make my point and stand unaided.) When I had reached the safety of the wall, and could lean on it for support, I turned back to Philades. ‘You see?’