Read Online The Vestal Vanishes by Rosemary Rowe - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Rosemary Rowe
Ads: Link
have seen it, as you travelled here?’
I hadn’t. I had ridden in the litter with the curtains drawn. But I did not tell her that. All I said was, ‘It must be close to finished.’
She almost smiled. ‘There are a few rooms to plaster and a bathhouse to complete, but we could move in tomorrow if my husband chose. Indeed we might have done so earlier, except that Audelia wished to hold the wedding here. I believe that Publius intends to take her off to Rome, to meet what family he has, as soon as they are wed – and we will certainly have moved by the time that they return. Supposing that you find her. Where will you begin?’
I could not confess that I had no idea, but that was how I felt. If I had harboured any notion that there might have been a motive for this family to want Audelia gone – or even dead – it seemed that I was wrong. However, there was still one avenue that I might explore. ‘I understand that you have the carriage-driver in the house? The one who was driving when she disappeared? Perhaps it would be possible for me to speak to him?’
The violence of her answer startled me. ‘Publius sent him back here – though why I cannot think. The fellow is clearly a liar and a thief. I told my husband before we hired him that the man was dangerous – I did not like the look of him at all – but of course Lavinius took no notice of my fears.’
‘You knew the fellow, then?’ I was thinking so hard about the problem that I plucked off another grape.
‘Well, not exactly knew, but he had been here to the house. He took Lavinia to Corinium, of course.’
I could make no sense of this. ‘But I thought—’
Cyra cut me off. ‘My daughter was most anxious to see the bride before she wed, but the pontifex insisted that today – as soon as the birthday feast was over – he must take her to the shrine. So we found a compromise. She couldn’t travel in the same carriage with the pontifex anyway, of course, for the sake of decency, and Audelia was due to spend last night in Corinium. So it was arranged that Lavinia should leave here yesterday and spend Audelia’s wedding-eve with her and learn a little about Vestal life.’
‘At the official mansio, I suppose?’ I asked. A Vestal Virgin would surely merit preferential lodgings at the official inn. I knew the mansio at Corinium. I determined to call there and ask questions if I could.
‘A Vestal Virgin at a military inn? Of course not, citizen.’ Her tone of voice dismissed the fine official inns as though they might be dens of vice. ‘We chose a respectable private household known to my husband from his visits there. They let out rooms sometimes. They did have other guests last night, they said, but the wife gave up her own room and thus they managed to accommodate Lavinia – who drove there in a hired raeda yesterday.’
‘And the same driver was to bring Audelia back here? Rather than use the temple coach to bring her all the way?’
She gave a wry smile. ‘Lavinius suggested the arrangement himself. He found a driver with a raeda for hire, who was to take Lavinia to Corinium, to the lodging-house. The pontifex was to join her in the temple there today, and tomorrow my daughter was to travel on towards the shrine, using the Vestal pilentum which Audelia had used, while the raeda brought the bride the last few miles to us. It saved a double journey for both conveyances and – as my husband pointed out – the cost of hiring the raeda any further than he must.’
I nodded. ‘So your raedarius was to bring the bride back here? Or rather to Glevum to meet up with Publius?’
She nodded. ‘That was the disadvantage of the scheme. Being a hired raeda, and not the Vestal coach, it could not enter the town in daylight hours. But Audelia consented very willingly – this was all arranged before she left the shrine – and she arranged to meet Publius at the games. My husband thought it would create a pretty little spectacle to crown the
I hadn’t. I had ridden in the litter with the curtains drawn. But I did not tell her that. All I said was, ‘It must be close to finished.’
She almost smiled. ‘There are a few rooms to plaster and a bathhouse to complete, but we could move in tomorrow if my husband chose. Indeed we might have done so earlier, except that Audelia wished to hold the wedding here. I believe that Publius intends to take her off to Rome, to meet what family he has, as soon as they are wed – and we will certainly have moved by the time that they return. Supposing that you find her. Where will you begin?’
I could not confess that I had no idea, but that was how I felt. If I had harboured any notion that there might have been a motive for this family to want Audelia gone – or even dead – it seemed that I was wrong. However, there was still one avenue that I might explore. ‘I understand that you have the carriage-driver in the house? The one who was driving when she disappeared? Perhaps it would be possible for me to speak to him?’
The violence of her answer startled me. ‘Publius sent him back here – though why I cannot think. The fellow is clearly a liar and a thief. I told my husband before we hired him that the man was dangerous – I did not like the look of him at all – but of course Lavinius took no notice of my fears.’
‘You knew the fellow, then?’ I was thinking so hard about the problem that I plucked off another grape.
‘Well, not exactly knew, but he had been here to the house. He took Lavinia to Corinium, of course.’
I could make no sense of this. ‘But I thought—’
Cyra cut me off. ‘My daughter was most anxious to see the bride before she wed, but the pontifex insisted that today – as soon as the birthday feast was over – he must take her to the shrine. So we found a compromise. She couldn’t travel in the same carriage with the pontifex anyway, of course, for the sake of decency, and Audelia was due to spend last night in Corinium. So it was arranged that Lavinia should leave here yesterday and spend Audelia’s wedding-eve with her and learn a little about Vestal life.’
‘At the official mansio, I suppose?’ I asked. A Vestal Virgin would surely merit preferential lodgings at the official inn. I knew the mansio at Corinium. I determined to call there and ask questions if I could.
‘A Vestal Virgin at a military inn? Of course not, citizen.’ Her tone of voice dismissed the fine official inns as though they might be dens of vice. ‘We chose a respectable private household known to my husband from his visits there. They let out rooms sometimes. They did have other guests last night, they said, but the wife gave up her own room and thus they managed to accommodate Lavinia – who drove there in a hired raeda yesterday.’
‘And the same driver was to bring Audelia back here? Rather than use the temple coach to bring her all the way?’
She gave a wry smile. ‘Lavinius suggested the arrangement himself. He found a driver with a raeda for hire, who was to take Lavinia to Corinium, to the lodging-house. The pontifex was to join her in the temple there today, and tomorrow my daughter was to travel on towards the shrine, using the Vestal pilentum which Audelia had used, while the raeda brought the bride the last few miles to us. It saved a double journey for both conveyances and – as my husband pointed out – the cost of hiring the raeda any further than he must.’
I nodded. ‘So your raedarius was to bring the bride back here? Or rather to Glevum to meet up with Publius?’
She nodded. ‘That was the disadvantage of the scheme. Being a hired raeda, and not the Vestal coach, it could not enter the town in daylight hours. But Audelia consented very willingly – this was all arranged before she left the shrine – and she arranged to meet Publius at the games. My husband thought it would create a pretty little spectacle to crown the
Similar Books
