David Wishart - Nero

The villa's major domo was waiting in the background. I called him over.

'The emperor and empress will eat immediately,' I said.

He bowed and waited for them to follow.

Lucius took my arm. 'Well done, Titus! Marvellous! Simply splendid!' he whispered, then winked. 'See you later, eh?'

I watched them go, then went back to the party.

It was an enormous success, especially the food: the Bay of Naples is famous for its fish. I'd carried the grotto theme to the gardens and the seashore, and we ate al fresco before turning to other more strenuous pursuits. I was sorry Silia had missed the festivities — she'd conjugal duties to perform — but I managed to enjoy myself well enough in her absence. Ganymede may have been otherwise engaged, but he had a friend, and I found two of the most delightful nymphs to make up a foursome.

I didn't see Lucius or Agrippina until much later, when the major domo came to tell me that the imperial couple were leaving. Lucius's mood was strange. He had his arm around Agrippina's shoulders, hugging her close; and she smiled up at him with a curiously self-satisfied smile of her own, like a contented cat.

'Mother's a bit tired, Titus,' he said: there was that strange breathless quality to his voice which I'd noticed in the gymnasium. 'She wants to get straight back.'

'The empress's boat is waiting, sir.' The major domo bowed. I could see the man was nervous, and wondered why.

'Ready, darling?' Lucius kissed Agrippina on the mouth. She responded, and I caught the flick of a tongue before he drew his head away. 'Off we go, then.'

'I'll see you to the landing stage,' I said.

We walked together through the now dimly lit gardens, trying not to step on the couples (or sometimes threesomes) who impinged here and there on the path. Agrippina, snuggled deep into Lucius's embrace, said nothing all the way.

The boat alongside the jetty was different to the one in which they'd arrived. It was lower in the water, and it had a large canopy covering the entire stern. Agrippina paused.

'What's this?' she said.

Lucius giggled and hugged her.

'A last little surprise. Isn't it beautiful? Go on. It's got such a lovely couch. You can sleep on the way back.'

'You're not coming?'

'My stomach's a little upset, darling. I'll go by road and meet you there.'

The crew were already on board, together with Agrippina's personal maid. The empress, I could see, was hesitating.

'You're sure you won't come, Lucius?' she said.

'I said I'll go by road!' Lucius's face had suddenly darkened. 'Now don't be silly, Mother! It's perfectly safe! Off you go!'

They stood looking at each other for a long time, not touching. Then without another word Agrippina walked across the gangplank and stepped down into the covered cabin. Slaves undid the hawsers and the ship moved off.

'If your stomach's upset,' I said, turning to Lucius, 'why not — '

I stopped. He was watching the disappearing boat with empty eyes from which ran black, mascara'd tears.

'Don't leave me tonight, Titus,' he whispered. 'Come back with me to Baiae.'

Memory is a strange thing. As soon as he spoke I remembered where I'd heard that curiously breathless, excited voice before. It had been at our first dinner party at the palace, the night Britannicus died.

I felt, despite the warmth of the evening, suddenly cold.

I wasn't such a fool, of course, as to show him I'd noticed anything strange in his behaviour, far less guessed what lay behind it.

'There's no reason for us to go back to Baiae, surely,' I said. 'Why not stay here tonight?'

'Oh, I couldn't do that.' Lucius's eyes were still glazed. He was smiling, or his mouth was, and he suddenly jerked his head sideways in a curious spastic motion. The effect was ghastly. 'Not after promising Mother. The poor darling would be terribly disappointed if I didn't turn up.'

'Let me see if the carriage is ready, then,' I said; and gratefully escaped.

The hallway was empty — most of the remaining guests were occupied in the bedrooms upstairs, or out in the garden — but as I dashed through I collided with Anicetus. The little Greek might be Lucius's Commander of the Fleet but he'd never look anything other than the inky-fingered schoolmaster he'd once been.

'Has she gone?' he said. 'The empress?'

'Yes, she's gone.' His eyes shifted, much as Lucius's had. 'Anicetus, what's going on?'

'For Apollo's sake, don't ask!' He was pale as a ghost. 'How's the emperor?'

'I left him on the jetty. He wants me to go back with him to Baiae.' A slave came up and I sent him to see to the carriage. 'Anicetus, for the last time, what the hell's happening?'

He looked over my shoulder. His eyes widened and he put a skinny finger to his lips. I turned. Lucius was coming from the direction of the garden.

'Titus, where's that bloody carriage?' he said. His voice was more controlled now, and the suppressed excitement was back. 'I want to get home.'

'It's just coming.'

'Well, I wish it would hurry up. I'm completely knackered.' He grinned.'Anicetus, you'll join us, of course.' It was an order. The little man bowed.

We went out of the front door to wait in the drive.

'Mother should be well on her way now.' Lucius gazed up at the sky. 'Isn't it a glorious night for a sail?'

Neither Anicetus nor I replied. The carriage arrived and we climbed in.

The journey to Baiae was uneventful. Lucius said nothing, simply stared out of the window into the blackness. In the corner next to me Anicetus snored gently.

We were a scant mile from the town when I realised that Lucius was looking straight at me, or rather through me. His eyes were empty as they had been on the jetty, and he was crying.

'You only wanted power, darling,' he said softly. 'You didn't love me, not really, not for myself. I couldn't do anything else.'

I closed my eyes and pretended to be asleep.

It wasn't until the next morning when the messenger arrived from Bauli that we discovered that Agrippina was still alive.

The boat had collapsed, as it was meant to, halfway between Bauli and Baiae. Agrippina ought to have been crushed at once by the heavy iron weight which was concealed under the stern canopy, but the sides of her couch supported it long enough for her to roll clear and into the water. Despite a deep gash in her shoulder she swam quietly away and was picked up by some fishermen, who took her back to the villa.

Her maid wasn't so lucky. To give Agrippina time to escape she had cried out from the water that she was the empress, and ordered the crew to help her. They had split the girl's skull with a boathook.

I didn't know all this until much later, of course. Agrippina's freedman carried quite a different story.

He came sidling in while we were having breakfast — Lucius, Anicetus and I — in the imperial villa at Baiae. Lucius lay back on his couch and smiled at him with an air of expectancy.

'Well?' he said.

'I've a message, sir, from your mother. From the Lady Agrippina.'

The smile became a frozen mask.

' From my mother?'

'Yes, sir. She says that by divine mercy, sir, and your own lucky star she's escaped a dreadful accident.' The over-formal words came stiffly, and the last was carefully stressed. 'She says to tell you she's only slightly hurt, and she doesn't want you to visit her until she's better.'

Lucius was on his feet. He had caught the small table beside his couch with his knees as he stood up and tipped the contents out over the floor. A silver plate rolled across the marble and clattered to a stop against the far wall.

'Then she's not dead!' he whispered.

The man swallowed. 'No, lord. Only hurt. And she says — '

'Guards!'