Free Dark Omens by Rosemary Rowe Page A

beard-wearer. ‘Ulpius’s partner? We have not met, but I have heard of him.’ I turned to Silvia. ‘And this must be the lady of the house – as beautiful as Ulpius always said she was.’
    Indeed, only a man who had a preference for Syrian slave boys could possibly have called her ‘ugly as a mule’ – though she might be wilful, I could imagine that. She was still in mourning for her husband, naturally, and her
stola
and undertunic were of sombre black, but she wore a lustrous girdle made of plaited silk arranged in the becoming Grecian style, so that it came round her shoulders, crossed over in the front, then looped around her body to be tied off in a knot – thus emphasizing both her waist and her other attributes. She was a shapely woman and was aware of it – as were all the adult males in the room. Her veil, which should strictly have obscured her face, was thrown back to form a sort of lacy frame from which a tangle of dark curls had half-escaped and the sparkling dark eyes which looked boldly into mine seemed more amused than grieved.
    Her voice, however, was decorous and low. ‘Libertus!’ She half-rose in greeting and held out a plump, well-manicured white hand. ‘I, in turn, have heard of you. My late husband spoke most highly of your work.’ There was no offer of refreshment for me or Junio. Of course we were here as pavement-makers rather than as guests, so perhaps I should not have been expecting it. Silvia rather underlined the thought. She turned to Lucius. ‘This is the man who laid the entrance pavement with the ship.’
    ‘And the one which has replaced it,’ I pointed out, taking the hand and bowing over it. ‘Completed before the Agonalia, as I contracted with your guardian.’
    ‘And thereby meriting the double fee. That fact has been noted!’ Marcus murmured, with a nod.
    Lucius said bluffly, ‘Then it is to be hoped that there’s enough to pay for it. Genialis has been spending money as some men pour out grain, and who knows what will be left in his estate?’
    Silvia rounded on him, looking shocked. ‘What makes you say that? You speak as you think that my guardian is dead. I know the weather has been terrible, but I don’t think you need to worry about that. He’s a splendid horseman. He is known for it. Anyway he had borrowed Bernadus’s horse, branded with a most distinctive mark, so if anything had happened to him on the way we’d certainly have heard. Surely – as I pointed out before – it’s more likely that he’s simply gone to Dorn?’
    Lucius looked doubtful. ‘I suppose you’re right. Under the circumstances, perhaps, it’s just what he would do! If only to disoblige us.’
    ‘Hoping to panic you a bit, so that you would agree to pay any price at all for the part of Ulpius’s business that was left to Silvia?’
    If I had hoped to startle him by saying this, I failed. Lucius simply threw back his auburn head and laughed. ‘I see you have the measure of him, citizen. I would no doubt have paid him, too – like an idiot – if he had turned up just in time and made a high demand. Anything to make sure the deal went through.’ Then realization must have come to him. He frowned. ‘But how did you come to hear about this, citizen? I didn’t tell you, and I’m sure my potential partner has not mentioned it to anyone. I didn’t think that even Genialis knew what I had hoped to do, though – since on reflection I agree it’s likely that he has gone to Dorn – perhaps I was mistaken in supposing that. If you’ve heard about it, citizen, perhaps all Glevum has!’
    This time it was Marcus laughing. ‘Oh, Libertus has a way of knowing everything! That is why I often call on him to find things out for me.’ He cocked an eyebrow at me. ‘Though I don’t suppose that even you can deduce what’s happened to our host? It seems he left Bernadus’s villa several days ago, and at the time he said that he would come directly here.’
    ‘And there was no