pavement-maker . . .’ Before I realized what was happening he had seized my unsuspecting hand and thrust it into Lavinius’s bony grasp. ‘There! You have shaken hands and I have witnessed it, so the contract between you now has legal force. Come, steward, cut the driver’s bonds and let him go.’ He turned to Lavinius with his chubby smile. ‘If His Excellence Marcus Septimus has such confidence in our mosaicist, then I am inclined to act on his advice – and if he is right there is no time to lose. The sooner he finds out where the stop took place, the faster my dear bride is likely to be found.’
EIGHT
T o say that I was utterly appalled by this does not come close to describing how I felt. I was literally speechless with dismay. Not only was I legally compelled to bring the driver back, on penalty of a small fortune in gold coins, but I was also apparently expected to set off at once – when it was already the middle of the afternoon – to a town that was fully twenty miles away, with not the slightest prospect of getting back that day. Whatever else, I’d not intended that.
‘But my family, mightiness,’ I burbled. ‘They won’t know where I am. Besides, it will be dark in only a few hours and I have no money for an inn. What am I to do when I get to Corinium? Or do you expect me to sleep beside the road?’
Lavinius gave me his icy pale-blue stare. ‘Citizen, I have complied with your request.’ (In fact he hadn’t – the driver was still bound.) ‘After that – as far as I’m concerned – the matter rests with you. If there are resultant problems, that’s not my affair. Perhaps you should have thought the matter through a little more.’ He turned to the steward, who was hovering nearby. ‘Slave, do as this pavement-maker says. Cut this scoundrel’s bonds then go and fetch the iron-smith to strike the fetters off his feet. If he tries to run away, arrest the citizen.’
The steward stepped forward and drew out a long knife from his belt. He pulled the driver roughly up onto his knees, causing him to groan in agony and, propping him in that position against the sacks, began – none too gently – to hack at the rope tethered between the feet and hands. As he worked, the pressure on the bonds was visibly increased and I could see the driver biting his lip to stop himself from crying out. Then the tether snapped and the captive, suddenly released from being tensioned like a bow, toppled over and fell forward on the floor.
The steward kicked him over on his side and knelt to cut the belt that bound the hands.
‘You need not let the prisoner go entirely,’ Publius put in. ‘He does not have to drive his raeda yet – that’s still outside of Glevum anyway. In fact he does not have to drive the thing at all. Lavinius, you could send them in your gig. There would be just room for both the prisoner and Libertus at a pinch, and that way you could keep the man in bonds throughout.’
That was quite an intelligent idea: not only did it appease Lavinius, it might save me a good deal of anxiety besides.
Before I could voice this, the raeda driver spoke up from the floor – unbowed as ever, it appeared. ‘The box containing all Audelia’s wedding-gifts is still inside my coach – at least I hope it is – and I imagine you will want it back? There would be not room to take that with us in the gig.’
It earned him a savage thump across his back from the steward. Lavinius scowled at the prisoner’s impudence, and Publius looked affronted at this challenge to his words. For two quadrans , I could see, he would wash his hands of this.
I did not wish to lose the only ally that I had, so I gave him what I hoped was an ingratiating smile. ‘Citizen Publius, with the greatest of respect, that raeda is the last place that Audelia was seen. I would like to stop and take a look at it. There may be signs of struggle, or some other sort of clue. Perhaps – as you suggest – the gig could take
EIGHT
T o say that I was utterly appalled by this does not come close to describing how I felt. I was literally speechless with dismay. Not only was I legally compelled to bring the driver back, on penalty of a small fortune in gold coins, but I was also apparently expected to set off at once – when it was already the middle of the afternoon – to a town that was fully twenty miles away, with not the slightest prospect of getting back that day. Whatever else, I’d not intended that.
‘But my family, mightiness,’ I burbled. ‘They won’t know where I am. Besides, it will be dark in only a few hours and I have no money for an inn. What am I to do when I get to Corinium? Or do you expect me to sleep beside the road?’
Lavinius gave me his icy pale-blue stare. ‘Citizen, I have complied with your request.’ (In fact he hadn’t – the driver was still bound.) ‘After that – as far as I’m concerned – the matter rests with you. If there are resultant problems, that’s not my affair. Perhaps you should have thought the matter through a little more.’ He turned to the steward, who was hovering nearby. ‘Slave, do as this pavement-maker says. Cut this scoundrel’s bonds then go and fetch the iron-smith to strike the fetters off his feet. If he tries to run away, arrest the citizen.’
The steward stepped forward and drew out a long knife from his belt. He pulled the driver roughly up onto his knees, causing him to groan in agony and, propping him in that position against the sacks, began – none too gently – to hack at the rope tethered between the feet and hands. As he worked, the pressure on the bonds was visibly increased and I could see the driver biting his lip to stop himself from crying out. Then the tether snapped and the captive, suddenly released from being tensioned like a bow, toppled over and fell forward on the floor.
The steward kicked him over on his side and knelt to cut the belt that bound the hands.
‘You need not let the prisoner go entirely,’ Publius put in. ‘He does not have to drive his raeda yet – that’s still outside of Glevum anyway. In fact he does not have to drive the thing at all. Lavinius, you could send them in your gig. There would be just room for both the prisoner and Libertus at a pinch, and that way you could keep the man in bonds throughout.’
That was quite an intelligent idea: not only did it appease Lavinius, it might save me a good deal of anxiety besides.
Before I could voice this, the raeda driver spoke up from the floor – unbowed as ever, it appeared. ‘The box containing all Audelia’s wedding-gifts is still inside my coach – at least I hope it is – and I imagine you will want it back? There would be not room to take that with us in the gig.’
It earned him a savage thump across his back from the steward. Lavinius scowled at the prisoner’s impudence, and Publius looked affronted at this challenge to his words. For two quadrans , I could see, he would wash his hands of this.
I did not wish to lose the only ally that I had, so I gave him what I hoped was an ingratiating smile. ‘Citizen Publius, with the greatest of respect, that raeda is the last place that Audelia was seen. I would like to stop and take a look at it. There may be signs of struggle, or some other sort of clue. Perhaps – as you suggest – the gig could take
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