Fortune's Fool by Albert A. Bell

Author:Albert A. Bell
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: historical mystery, Rome, Pliny the Younger, Tacitus, oman society, slaves, Cornelius Tacitus
ISBN: 987-1-56474-809-6
Publisher: SCB Distributors
Published: 2017-04-06T16:00:00+00:00

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Fortune is like glass—the brighter its glitter, the more easily broken.

—Publilius Syrus

There’s no way I can track him,” Aurora said as she studied the whirlwind of hoofprints around the stable. “If we had known he’d taken a horse, we could have kept ours out of here until we examined the area. This is hopeless.” In a soft voice she added, “I’m sorry, Gaius.”

“You don’t have anything to apologize for. You can’t do the impossible.” I looked down the lane leading from the house to the main road. Our arrival had obliterated any trace of hoofprints that might have been left before Pompeius reached the paved main road. “Let’s go back to the house. I imagine dinner will be ready soon. We’ll spend the night and leave first thing in the morning.”

“When we go back in,” Aurora said, “take a look at the busts in the atrium. I guess they’re all members of the family.”

“I would assume so.”

“One of them is inscribed ‘Pompeia Paulina.’ Why would your mother-in-law not want to talk about her?”

“As she said the other evening, there are people that you just don’t want to be related to. If you are, you’d like for everyone to forget it, especially certain highly placed people.”

“Her brother obviously didn’t feel that way.”

“I’ll look into it. It could even be another woman by the same name and not Seneca’s wife.”

I simply didn’t know what to do. Staying here wasn’t going to get me any closer to finding the document I needed to rescue Livia. Because Pompeius had bolted the way he did and when he did, I suspected that he knew something about the kidnapping or knew who did. Tertia claimed to have no idea where he might have gone. This was not her home. She had been here only a few months, since her husband left for his province, so she was not aware of her father’s habits or his current associates. But I found it hard to imagine a man of his age carrying on with a woman.

We got back to the house as the women were finishing a quick bath. By the time Tacitus and I had walked around the atrium and then bathed, dinner—consisting mostly of the provisions we had brought—was ready. With only six of us reclining, the dining room offered plenty of space. Tertia, a very subdued Pompeia, and my mother occupied the high couch. I was given the guest of honor’s position on the middle couch, with Tacitus and Julia reclining above me. I noticed the other servant women glancing oddly at Aurora as she took her place behind me and resolved to ask her what that was about.

Conversation around the triclinium was desultory. I didn’t want to bring up the subject of Pompeia Paulina again in front of my mother-in-law. Tertia had told us everything she could about Pompeius’ business dealings, which was nothing. Their scribe was supposed to be looking through Pompeius’ records to see if he could find any reference to a collegium involving my father or a sealed document that my father might have left with Pompeius.

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