Marilyn Todd - I, Claudia

She jerked away from the hand that was tracing the wound on her forehead. ‘It’s hardly a shiner and you lay so much as one more finger on me, you miserable worm, I’ll snap it clean off.’ She gingerly rubbed the cut. ‘And if you’ve infected this wound, I swear by all things holy you’ll pay with your life.’

‘Bad journey up, then?’

‘Find me a good one. Look, why don’t you run along and join Lucius, there’s a good chap?’

‘Lucius is…oh, very droll. Claudia, you ought at least to give you condolences to poor Valeria.’

‘In the morning.’

Another day wouldn’t make any difference, and what can you say to a young widow eight months pregnant with a child whose father’s ashes are still smouldering?

‘Ah!’ There was a knowing look in his eye. ‘It’s Larentia, isn’t it? You know, she’s not so bad once you get to know her.’

‘I don’t want to know her better thank you very much.’ Venomous old bitch.

Claudia began to dab at the corner of her eye. ‘I can’t see anyone now, Marcellus. You must remember that this is…extremely painful for me. Why, it was only five years ago that I was in the very same position myself.’

The catch in her voice was masterful, she thought. Absolutely bloody masterful. As Mulberrychops retreated, his head bowed in shame and embarrassment, Claudia was left to ponder why her brother-in-law was suddenly making overtures lacking in both subtlety and discretion. No matter, she could sort out that smarmy reptile any old time, there were more pressing matters on hand.

Slamming the rec room door in the face of Galla, the one who had replaced Melissa and was supposed to help her undress (because the last thing she wanted at the moment was company, especially from a girl who lisped), Claudia flung her sandals into the corner. On the whole, she thought, splashing water over her face, you’ve managed rather well. That exquisite soak in hot water had eased the aches and pains, the cold plunge had sharpened her wits and by the time she’d met up with Gaius again in the privacy of their bedroom, her spirits and confidence had buoyed themselves up.

Naturally he’d been flabbergasted when she told him about the riot. ‘Surely you notified the authorities? Good grief, my dove, they nearly killed you!’

She’d thought about that one.

‘At the time I was too concerned for the slaves,’ she said. ‘Then, afterwards, I was glad I hadn’t summoned the police.’ She patted his arm. ‘You’ve had so much to contend with lately, Gaius, the last thing you needed was your good name dragged into a common street brawl.’

‘You’re a very considerate woman, Claudia, do you know that? No, don’t look so modest. Most wives would have panicked and pandemonium would have been let loose. Instead, you mop up trouble like a wine spill and no one’s the wiser.’

Certainly not once you’ve set Junius free, they won’t be.

‘One of our slaves-oh dear I can’t remember his name-anyway, the poor boy stepped straight in and practically saved my life. I’ve hinted, only hinted, mind, that you might see your way clear to setting him free as a reward for his heroism.’

‘Could I do less, my brave little dove? Now, Claudia,’ the furrows on his brow deepened, ‘what’s this nonsense about your cousin Marcus? You said he made a pass at you?’

Honestly! The best playwright in the whole of the Empire couldn’t have penned a better script, she thought afterwards. The timing was perfection itself and Gaius, poor soul, fell into every trap. Now, waiting for him to come up to bed, she calculated there was no better time to play the loaded dice she had up her sleeve…

The oil in the lamp was burning low before Claudia, fully sober, heard her husband’s hand on the latch. He dismissed the slave with a growl. Hmm. If Marcellus believed he was taking Lucius’s death well, Claudia knew better. Gaius Seferius took every knock on the chin without obvious sign of damage. It was his way.

‘You’re not still awake?’

Claudia mentally rolled the dice down her arm and began weighing it.

‘I was worried about you, Gaius.’

‘That’s very sweet of you.’ He eased his tunic over his head, then paused while his breath came back. ‘Jupiter, I’m getting old.’

He’d been having chest pains again. She could tell by the way he massaged his breast. ‘Rubbish,’ she countered.

‘No, no, Claudia, I feel myself teetering on the border of death-’

‘For heaven’s sake, Gaius, cut that out. You’re fifty-three, not eighty-three.’

Grunt.

‘Good grief, your mother’s across the hall-she’s knocking seventy and, Gaius, I swear Larentia will outlive the pair of us, just to spite me!’

Thank Juno, he began to chuckle. Claudia shook her mental dice and decided there was no better time for a roll.

‘Couple of things I meant to tell you, Gaius.’

‘Oh?’

There was an unexpected edge to his voice, which caught her off guard. She propped herself up on one elbow and forced a smile.

‘Yes. Business matters you asked me to handle in your absence, remember?’

‘Ah.’ The relief was unmistakable.

Claudia carefully recounted the gist of the meetings he’d entrusted her with, but her mind was only half on them. Something was up, she could smell it. The bed tilted as Gaius sat on the edge and kicked off his sandals.

‘And, Gaius, I’m afraid I’ve got a confession to make.’

His eyes bored into hers and suddenly the air was so heavy you could have sliced it up and served it with honey.

‘You know-’ Claudia cleared her throat and started again. ‘You know the shipment that was due the day you left?’

Again the ominous exhalation of breath. ‘What about it, my dove?’

There was a definite smell of fish in the air but Claudia chose to pass over it. There was an iron which needed to be struck while it was still red hot.

‘The captain called at the house to collect the three hundred sesterces outstanding on the account. I’m afraid I was terribly upset about Lucius, I mean you can imagine how it brought back my grief…’ She tailed off and sniffed. ‘Five years and it still seems like yesterday!’ She turned away and sobbed into the pillow.

‘There, there, I understand… What the hell did he mean, three hundred outstanding?’

‘That’s the point, Gaius. I was so distraught, I paid him on the spot. Then when I sent down to the wharf for a receipt, I realized we…I…had been conned. The ship was there, so was the captain. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the same man!’ She flung herself face down into the pillows. ‘I’m most terribly sorry.’

He was cross-Juno, was the man cross! — but thankfully not with her. Claudia let her breath out ever so slowly and peered out between her fingers. Dammit, had she known he’d take it this lightly, she’d have given Lucan five hundred. Too late now, but this was the time to get to the source of that fishy smell in the air.

‘Gaius, there’s something worrying you, isn’t there?’

‘As a matter of fact-’ He stood up and began to pace the chamber. ‘This is very difficult for me, Claudia, but the morning I left Rome, a letter arrived-an anonymous letter. It…it made some rather unsavoury accusations.’ So Gaius’s secret was finally out, was it?

‘About you?’

‘Um, no. About you, actually.’

Once, when she was very small, an earth tremor rocked the town where she was living. Nothing serious, no lives lost, just a couple of statues which lost their heads when they toppled over and a few shopfronts which tumbled down. But during the tremor, when the ground rumbled and buildings rocked, it had scared a five-year-old girl to her marrow.

‘You threw it straight on the fire, I hope. Pass me another pillow, will you, this one’s stuffed with old boots.’ Come on, Claudia. Force a laugh.