A puzzled frown bit into the old woman’s forehead. ‘Write what?’
‘Come, come, Larentia. I know. And you know. And Gaius knows. But he’s thrown it away. Thinks it’s a load of old codswallop, if you must know. Doesn’t believe a word of it.’
‘Thrown what away? Codswallop? What are you going on about?’
‘Don’t play games with me, Larentia. I simply wondered whether you wrote it all on your own, or whether you brought in a third party to write it for you.’ Everyone knew Larentia had very little schooling, and what she had she wasn’t very good at.
‘Don’t try and sidetrack me, you scheming hussy. It won’t work, I tell you. I know what you’re up to, and I’m warning you here and now, you won’t get away with your nasty tricks any longer.’
‘You’re terrifying me.’
‘Think this is funny, do you? Well, you’ll laugh on the other side of your face when they throw you to the bears, my girl. And guess who’ll be there to cheer them on?’ Good heavens, the old duck was senile! She wondered whether Gaius was aware of it, and, if so, how far down the line she’d gone.
‘Well I’ll be sure to blow you a kiss, Larentia.’
At least when Gaius realizes what she’s like he won’t give another thought to that bloody letter. Dreadful coincidence, though. Larentia accusing her of promiscuity. Claudia pushed her plate away and prepared to leave.
‘Not so fast, my girl.’ To her surprise, Larentia’s claws closed over her wrist. ‘I want to hear what you plan to do now.’
Claudia sighed. ‘Very little, if you must know. I hate the country, there’s sod all to do here.’
‘Don’t mess with me, you scheming slag. You know damned fine what I’m talking about. Believe it or not, I’m giving you a choice. Disappear now, or I’m going straight to Gaius and the authorities.’
‘Magic’s not my strong point, Larentia.’
‘Lying bitch. Sleight of hand’s what you’re best at. Poison, accidents, what next, eh?’
A chill wind seemed to have infiltrated the room. Claudia concentrated on the spring frieze. Was that a myrtle wreath round her head?
‘Oh, that’s got to you, hasn’t it? All ears, aren’t you, Claudia High-and-Mighty Seferius?’
Maybe Summer was prettier? No, she was worse. Had a bit of a squint, did poor old Summer. ‘Are you insinuating-’
Larentia laughed. ‘Insinuating? Bit late for that, isn’t it? You’ve murdered three of my grandchildren…oh, not personally, no. You wouldn’t sully your dainty little fingers, would you? But because I’m old doesn’t mean I’m stupid. Think, woman. Think where Gaius got his shrewdness from-and I’ll give you a clue, it wasn’t from his father.’
That’s right, he built roads all his life.
‘I didn’t suspect, not at first. Not with my beautiful Calpumia.’ The old woman’s rheumy eyes began to fill with tears. ‘Lovely child, she was. Sent by Venus to bring joy on earth. My, I had such plans for the girl…until you killed her.’
Claudia lolled back in a show of indifference and picked up a small bunch of red grapes.
‘Calpurnia died of a fever, Larentia. F-e-v-e-r, fever.’
‘That’s what you wanted us to think. Thought yourself clever, didn’t you, but you’re rumbled. Who else caught that fever, eh? I’ll tell you who else, no one, that’s who. Just my lovely Calpurnia. And what a coincidence she was on the brink of marriage.’
The old girl sniffed and blew her nose.
‘The key word here, Larentia, is coincidence.’
‘Huh! And was it coincidence that her brother fell under the wheels of a grain wagon?’
‘He was steaming drunk by all accounts, and it was midnight, when only full loads are rolling into the city.’ The grapes had turned to ash in her mouth, but Claudia kept on chewing.
‘Drunk, my arse. Secundus was pushed. Which left Flavia and Lucius between you and my son’s fortune, didn’t it? How many times had you tried before you were successful, eh?’
‘You’re raving.’
Colour flooded Larentia’s gnarled old face. She jabbed Claudia on the breastbone with her index finger.
‘Well, you left it too late, you gold-digging bitch. That child of Valeria’s will inherit jointly alongside Flavia. Or did you plan to murder them both?’
‘I know who I’d like to murder.’
The old woman cackled. ‘Go ahead, let them catch you in the act. I’ve had my day, I’m willing to make the sacrifice. But you can’t do it face to face, can you? No. You pay people to do your dirty work for you. Scum, prepared to slip a poison to a fifteen-year-old girl and watch her die in agony, scum who don’t mind pushing a total stranger under a heavy cart just so long as they get paid. How much did it cost you to poison Lucius?’
Claudia stood up. Funny. Her knees suddenly seemed to find the weight too much for them and idly she wondered whether Larentia could hear them knocking.
‘I’ve had it up to here with you, you fossilized old bat. One more slur from your venomous mouth and I’ll have you buried alive so fast, you’ll be chewing worms within the hour. Do you hear me?’
Larentia curled a lip. ‘You and who else? Think your threats can touch an old woman? If you’re so innocent, why don’t we lay the evidence before Gaius, see what he makes of it?’
‘Leave my husband out of this. He’s had enough on his plate lately.’
‘Worrying himself sick about your debts, most like. Ho, ho, that took the wind out of your sails, didn’t it? Thought because I was stuck out here I didn’t know what was going on? Well, I told you before, Larentia Seferius is nobody’s fool. Two thousand sesterces you owe. Is that how much it cost to murder my grandson?’
Claudia’s teeth were clamped together so hard her jawbones were hurting. She forced herself to take several deep breaths.
‘Larentia, you are one sick woman.’
‘Oh, you’re the one who’ll be sick. Sick as a parrot. You under-estimated me, daughter-in-law, and now you’re going to pay the price. I’m going straight to Gaius, then I’m going to the authorities.’
Claudia made a great show of rearranging her tunic, flicked several imaginary crumbs off her bodice, then walked slowly but purposefully towards the door, Precisely how much this old trout knew and how much of it was guesswork remained to be seen.
‘Nothing you do, Larentia, either interests or concerns me. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got a very busy day ahead.’
XIV
In a narrow alley, less than fifty paces from the banks of the Tiber, a young slave girl cowered against a wall that reeked of dog piss and cabbages. The moon was not yet up, leaving the alleyway plunged into the colour of estuary mud. Nearby a tavern door opened, spilling light as well as two drunken oarsmen on to the cobbles. The girl flattened herself against the stonework, but the men, arms round each other for mutual support, wove their way down to the river, too engrossed in bawdy song to notice.
In the street at the end of the alley, creaking wagons made their deliveries. She could smell the oxen, hear the bark of directions as loads were hoisted off or on to the carts. Perhaps she could wriggle under one of the sheets? Hide in an empty wooden crate? Escape the city and…
And what? Head north? How? At sixteen, with virtually no money, no friends, no allies, how could she hope to survive?
Again the tavern doors threw a yellow oblong of light into the dingy street and three men tumbled out. Within seconds knuckles were cracking off jawbones, noses squelching under fists, shards of smashed drinking vessels skimming over the cobbles. The girl flinched as a small piece of pottery flicked against her calf and she covered her face with her hands. A yellow-haired whore jeered from the doorway until the tavern keeper threw a bucket of water over them all, including the woman, and suddenly the four were comrades again. The door closed and the alley fell silent once more, with only pools of wine and water to bear witness to the brawl.
She could hide on one of the carts, only…suppose they were being searched? Tears trickled down her cheek, cutting a path through the grime. Even if she escaped the city, she had no real idea which direction to take for home. There were mountains to cross, she knew that. Bleak, bitter mountains, where the wind howled like a wolf and the snow never melted. And what after that? The journey that had brought her to Rome had taken weeks. Months. She could never find her way back without help.