my contracts, speak for me legally or invest my capital. Mucia Lucilia had known Hermes since childhood. Perhaps, like so many women I would judge as dimwits, she just accepted the situation – or had she married to escape constraints, thinking Aviola would give her more freedom?
Everything may have been amicable. The picture Hermes gave me was that he and Mucia had enjoyed a friendly relationship and that he organised her affairs with a light hand. Certainly she liked him enough to have kept him as her executor, even when she re-wrote her will recently (which she had done on her marriage, like Aviola); at that time, she could easily have dropped Hermes. If she was nervous about dismissing him, she could always have said her husband made her change.
‘Would you call Mucia Lucilia a woman who knew her own mind, Hermes?’
‘Very much so.’
Not the nervous type then. This was the first I had heard of Mucia being strong-willed. ‘Was she domineering?’
‘Oh no. There was never unpleasantness. Mucia Lucilia got her way very diplomatically … But she had firm opinions and was quick to act when the mood took her.’
‘With Aviola?’
‘With anyone. But being contentious was rare; it was just not her way.’
I insisted on being sure; this was important. ‘Nobody thought of her as tyrannical? She was well liked?’
‘Very much so,’ said Hermes again. I would have left it – had he not added, ‘ – by most people.’
I pricked up my ears. ‘Who disliked her?’ Apparently Hermes failed to hear the question.
Pretending to change the subject I asked what might seem an innocuous question: ‘This probably has no bearing, but if their plans had worked out better, the two victims would never have been at the apartment when the thieves broke in … Do you happen to know why they could not leave for Campania straight after their wedding?’ The freedman leaned back on his stool and said nothing. His silence screamed at me to persist. ‘Hermes, they wanted to go the day before. What stopped them?’
‘
Who,
you mean,’ Hermes said. He pursed his lips, then gave up the answer. ‘Valerius Aviola had been letting someone use his villa. The guest failed to vacate the house when requested – that was why he sent so many slaves on ahead. I believe they had orders to assist with the guest’s packing − by force if necessary. Mucia Lucilia was not prepared to share the accommodation.’
‘Ah!’ So Mucia was firmly putting her foot down – only one day into her marriage. ‘Who was this unwanted guest? And why were they being difficult?’
‘On
why,
I cannot comment,’ returned the freedman primly, indicating the reason was not favourable to the sticking limpet. ‘I can certainly tell you
who
she is.’
She
?
The discovery that Mucia Lucilia refused to share the villa with another woman was intriguing. Had Valerius Aviola kept some long-term mistress secreted away in the country? … I guessed Hermes was about to reveal his wild theory, the one Sextus Simplicius had not wished me to hear, in case I believed it. Normally I have no time for other people’s crazy thoughts. I like to invent any mad theories for myself – and then discount them.
Hermes flushed red with real anger: ‘She was digging her heels in, refusing to go. She was malicious, it was unacceptable, my mistress was adamant and nobody blames her. Flavia Albia, the household slaves had nothing to do with what happened. I can tell you exactly who wanted Aviola and my dear young mistress dead. They thwarted her and she wouldn’t take it. She wanted Aviola’s villa and to get it, she arranged to have them murdered.’
This must be an amazing villa. ‘But, Hermes, who is she?’
‘The most jealous, manipulative, evil, scheming woman you will ever meet – his wife!’
14
D iana Aventina!
That blew everything apart. All previous theories had to be reassessed.
Disappointingly, it turned out that Aviola had not been a bigamist. He
Everything may have been amicable. The picture Hermes gave me was that he and Mucia had enjoyed a friendly relationship and that he organised her affairs with a light hand. Certainly she liked him enough to have kept him as her executor, even when she re-wrote her will recently (which she had done on her marriage, like Aviola); at that time, she could easily have dropped Hermes. If she was nervous about dismissing him, she could always have said her husband made her change.
‘Would you call Mucia Lucilia a woman who knew her own mind, Hermes?’
‘Very much so.’
Not the nervous type then. This was the first I had heard of Mucia being strong-willed. ‘Was she domineering?’
‘Oh no. There was never unpleasantness. Mucia Lucilia got her way very diplomatically … But she had firm opinions and was quick to act when the mood took her.’
‘With Aviola?’
‘With anyone. But being contentious was rare; it was just not her way.’
I insisted on being sure; this was important. ‘Nobody thought of her as tyrannical? She was well liked?’
‘Very much so,’ said Hermes again. I would have left it – had he not added, ‘ – by most people.’
I pricked up my ears. ‘Who disliked her?’ Apparently Hermes failed to hear the question.
Pretending to change the subject I asked what might seem an innocuous question: ‘This probably has no bearing, but if their plans had worked out better, the two victims would never have been at the apartment when the thieves broke in … Do you happen to know why they could not leave for Campania straight after their wedding?’ The freedman leaned back on his stool and said nothing. His silence screamed at me to persist. ‘Hermes, they wanted to go the day before. What stopped them?’
‘
Who,
you mean,’ Hermes said. He pursed his lips, then gave up the answer. ‘Valerius Aviola had been letting someone use his villa. The guest failed to vacate the house when requested – that was why he sent so many slaves on ahead. I believe they had orders to assist with the guest’s packing − by force if necessary. Mucia Lucilia was not prepared to share the accommodation.’
‘Ah!’ So Mucia was firmly putting her foot down – only one day into her marriage. ‘Who was this unwanted guest? And why were they being difficult?’
‘On
why,
I cannot comment,’ returned the freedman primly, indicating the reason was not favourable to the sticking limpet. ‘I can certainly tell you
who
she is.’
She
?
The discovery that Mucia Lucilia refused to share the villa with another woman was intriguing. Had Valerius Aviola kept some long-term mistress secreted away in the country? … I guessed Hermes was about to reveal his wild theory, the one Sextus Simplicius had not wished me to hear, in case I believed it. Normally I have no time for other people’s crazy thoughts. I like to invent any mad theories for myself – and then discount them.
Hermes flushed red with real anger: ‘She was digging her heels in, refusing to go. She was malicious, it was unacceptable, my mistress was adamant and nobody blames her. Flavia Albia, the household slaves had nothing to do with what happened. I can tell you exactly who wanted Aviola and my dear young mistress dead. They thwarted her and she wouldn’t take it. She wanted Aviola’s villa and to get it, she arranged to have them murdered.’
This must be an amazing villa. ‘But, Hermes, who is she?’
‘The most jealous, manipulative, evil, scheming woman you will ever meet – his wife!’
14
D iana Aventina!
That blew everything apart. All previous theories had to be reassessed.
Disappointingly, it turned out that Aviola had not been a bigamist. He
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