"I suppose so."

"Did she say anything to you about her family?"

"Oh, she wanted me to know how important they all were." I waited. Cloelia considered. "I don't think they have much fun. When my mother came to see if I was all right, Gaia saw her wink at me. Gaia seemed very surprised a mother would do that."

"Yes, I met her own mother. She is very serious. I don't suppose Gaia said anything about wanting to run away from home?"

"No. You don't tell people you are going, or you get stopped." Maia would be horrified to think Cloelia had thought about it.

"Right. So you don't think she was in any trouble at home?"

"I can't tell you any more," Cloelia decided. The briskness with which she ended the interview was significant. Unfortunately, I could not push my eight-year-old niece up against a wall and yell at her that I knew she was lying. I was being glared at by Helena, and I was too frightened of Maia.

"Well, thank you, Cloelia."

"That's all right."

"Maia is right," said Helena, frowning at me sternly. "You should have asked her permission to question Cloelia. I know how I would feel if it was Julia." Cloelia nodded agreement, ganging up.

"Hold on, both of you. I'm not a total stranger. Now Famia is dead, I am Maia Favonia's head of household--"

Helena laughed uproariously; so did Cloelia. So much for patriarchal power.

I knew when to shut up.

We had reached the Temple of Vesta anyway. Destroyed in the Great Fire in Nero's time, it had been quickly rebuilt, still on the ancient model: a mock round hut. In fact it was now a solid marble construction, standing on a high, stepped podium and surrounded by the famous columns and carved latticework. Smoke wreathed through a hole in the circular roof from the Sacred Fire below. At present the temple doors were open. Praetors, consuls, and dictators would sacrifice before this flame upon taking up office, but a mere Procurator of Poultry would have to find a d.a.m.ned good excuse before he dared approach the sanctum.

Within the temple I knew there was never an image of Vesta, only the hearth representing the life, welfare, and unity of the Roman state, shaded by a sacred laurel tree. Also there was the Palladium, an obscure article said by some to be an image of Athene/Minerva though others doubted it; whatever it was, the Palladium acted as a talisman protecting Rome, and guarding it was one of the main tasks entrusted to the Virgins. Since the public was kept out by a walled enclosure, the chances of the precious talisman being spirited away by some light-fingered wrongdoer were slim. You could not sell it, anyway. Pa once told me that since n.o.body knew what it looked like, the Palladium had no value as collectable art.

The Vestals were attending to their ch.o.r.es as we arrived. They were one short in number, of course, the position to be filled by tomorrow's lottery. Five of them, led by the pouchy-eyed Chief Vestal, who looked as if she were having trouble with hot flushes nowadays, were here in their old-fashioned white woollen dresses, tied under the bust with girdles in Hercules knots that would never be unfastened by lovers, their hair bound up in bridal complexity and fastened with bands and ribbons. They had to tend the flame, since if it ever died it was an ill omen for the city; they would be scourged for the offense by the Pontifex Maximus, currently Vespasian, who was known for his strict views on traditional virtues. They also had to carry out daily purification rites, which would include sprinkling water from the Sacred Spring all around the temple. (One of them emerged carrying the ritual mop made from a horse's tail with which they performed this function.) Later they would be busy making salt cakes for religious purposes. They would say prayers and attend sacrifices, with veiled heads.

Each Vestal was attended by a lictor. Since even the Praetor's lictor was obliged to lower his ceremonial fasces if a Virgin approached, the Vestals' lictors were notoriously c.o.c.ky. The maidens themselves might represent the antique simplicity of life enjoyed by a king's daughters back in the mists of time, but their modern guards were never slow in coming forward to stamp on your foot. These men were lounging in the enclosure, which it was possible to enter, though doing so caused suspicion even of a perfectly respectable procurator accompanied by his serene patrician wife and a demure female child. Inside the complex were an ostentatiously large shrine and the guarded entrance to the Vestals' House. It was perfectly clear I stood no chance of reaching the house or of bypa.s.sing the lictors to get into the temple. All I could do was to stand with my womenfolk, looking pious, while the Virgins paraded from the temple straight inside their menacing home. Cloelia kicked me when one of the youngest dames pa.s.sed by, to let me know that was Constantia.

Helena Justina marched boldly to the entrance gate and requested a formal interview. She even said she had information that touched on the forthcoming lottery. Her name was taken by an attendant in that bureaucratic manner that means Don't bother to stay at home waiting for a messenger. Don't bother to stay at home waiting for a messenger.

We stood around for a while like stale bread rolls after a party. Eventually we decided to leave, for a change making our way up the long stairway that led to the Via Nova in the deep shade of the Palatine. At the top of the steps I turned and looked back for a moment, because the view over the Forum is worth a breather any day. Suddenly Helena grabbed my arm. People were now coming out of a door in the back of the Vestals' House. A small group headed by a lictor had emerged, at the center of which was the Virgin who must be on that day's rota to fetch water from Egeria's Spring for the House of the Vestals itself (to which no proper piped water had ever been led). Bearing on her head one of the special pitchers that the Vestals had to use, by good fortune today's water-carrier was Constantia.

As the white-clad maiden made her way along the well-trodden route, Cloelia grabbed Helena and me by the hand and towed us along after her.

XXVIII.

PAST THE DUST and commotion of the huge building site for the Flavian Amphitheatre and then beyond the ma.s.sive plinth for the Temple of Claudius, which Vespasian was also at last completing out of grat.i.tude to his political patron, lay the Caelian Hill. This quiet, wooded haven looks south over the Capena Gate and the Circus Maximus. It is one of the most ancient, unspoiled parts of the city, the rocky hillside rich with springs. They were originally the province of water G.o.ddesses called the Camenae, but the nymph Egeria, saucy la.s.s, rather usurped their dominance. Here is the famous grove where King Numa Pompilius consulted (his word for it) the darling nymph night after night while she (he alleged) dictated political edicts to him; here too is the spring named after his lovely, helpful muse, to which the Vestals daily traipse.

Egeria's Spring must have been extremely handy for the Palace of King Numa. He would not have had too long a stroll in his search for inspiration. (One more example, Helena explains to me, of a dumb but well-intentioned man in power being brought to greater glory than he ever deserved by a much more intelligent lady friend.) Egeria kept old Numa going strong to over eighty, anyway.

Constantia approached the ancient watering hole with the stately gait that her sisterhood cultivates. Carrying a water vessel on the head is supposed to improve the posture; it certainly draws attention to a full womanly figure in a way that is not supposed to happen with the damsels in white. Having a girdle tied in a Hercules knot right under a well-rounded bust is bound to draw attention to the bust. Generations of Vestals have probably been well aware of this. Constantia no doubt viewed such thoughts with disdain. She looked to be in her early twenties; she must have completed the first ten years of learning her duties and was now equipped to carry them out in a reverential--though slightly distracting--style.

While Constantia was filling the pitcher, Helena Justina took Cloelia by the hand and--with gestures to me to wait behind--they walked sedately forwards. Helena addressed the Virgin by name. The lictor immediately told Helena to get lost. Offered the threatening points of his ceremonial rods, she backed away.

Constantia, perhaps long practiced, had ignored the small flurry as her pet.i.tioners were discouraged. Now the pitcher was full it was much heavier; she needed to concentrate. She swung it up on to her head, straight-backed and superior. I began to appreciate that the complex arrangements of braids worn by the Virgins might actually make a coiled mat to support their water jars and save them bruised heads. Eyes straight ahead like a tightrope walker, the Vestal moved to retrace her steps back to the Forum. She held her free arm very slightly apart from her body for balance, but mainly swayed gently as women in far-off provinces do as they visit wells outside their mud-hut villages, appearing to enjoy their carrying skills.

The stones around Egeria's shrine were green with slimy algae. Constantia seemed to be prepared for trouble. When her foot slipped, she regained her balance with commendable aplomb. Only a little water slopped out of her jar. It probably happened every day--and every day, Constantia probably looked just as annoyed when her ankle turned.

Helena was still standing nearer than I was. I think what she muttered to me afterwards, keeping it quiet from Cloelia with a genuinely shocked air, must have been a mistake. She surely misheard what Constantia had gasped as she skidded.

"Well, you believe what you like, Marcus. You are so innocent, I expect you would have thought Numa Pompilius was just a man who liked to work with a female secretary. Egeria proved to be efficient, and of course he never laid a finger on the nymph . . . But I could swear that when the venerable Virgin nearly turned her ankle, she winced and cursed."

Little Cloelia looked up scornfully. "Of course she did, Helena. She said 'b.a.l.l.s!' 'b.a.l.l.s!' " "

XXIX.

WE TRAILED Constantia all the way back to the House of the Vestals, keeping at a safe distance in case the lictor got frisky with his rods. Helena, who could be sensationally persistent, went straight back to the door porter and asked if her request for an interview had been considered yet. Far too soon for an answer. Ladies who lead lives of traditional simplicity observe the traditional rules for correspondence too: they do not follow up messages until the feast has gone cold.

Constantia herself had an excuse: ferrying water from the shrine. But do not imagine the Virgins are so geared to simplicity they read letters from the public personally. They have a large staff, and it certainly includes secretaries.

No, of course I don't think they employ the secretaries to write their love letters. Saying that would be blasphemy.

We made our second attempt at going home. Leaving the enclosure on the Sacred Way side this time, we emerged onto the small Street of the Vestals opposite the Regia--once the grand Etruscan Palace of Numa Pompilius, aforementioned aficionado of nymphs. I shrugged off the swathes of my toga and slung that hot, hated garment over my shoulder casually.

The Regia had long ago ceased to be occupied domestically, and few traces now remained of whatever ancient buildings had once occupied the site. It was a sacred area, used for centuries by the College of Pontiffs. They know how to earmark good accommodation. Some consul had rebuilt everything in sight using his spoils of war, a plunder so magnificent he had been able to floor and wall the new edifice with solid white and gray marble. As a result, this strongly constructed area had survived the Great Fire when all the huge patrician houses farther along the Sacred Way had been swept to destruction. Facing us now were the Temple of Mars, containing the spears that generals shook before departing for battle; an integral vestibule; and the Temple of Ops, the old-fashioned G.o.ddess of plenty, which only the Vestals and Pontifex Maximus were allowed to enter. To our right, at the far end of the complex, was a small porch, under whose columns we saw a disturbance.

A litter with an eagle on top and purple curtains was being lifted by bearers, who set off at a smart pace. Noisily tramping ahead went a phalanx of plumed helmets: Praetorian Guards. As they spread across the road, looking for more scope to knock pa.s.sersby aside, we knew we were witnessing the departure of the Emperor. Presumably, he had been there in his capacity as Pontifex, pootling around the priestly college on some religious business.

I would have thought nothing of it. But a crowd of hangers-on had been waiting for Vespasian to leave. As they now scattered, one man broke free of the rest; he was going at a fast lick. He saw me. A relieved expression lit his face. He slowed up.

"Falco! What a coincidence--I was sent out to find you. I thought it would take me half the day."

I recognized him. I last saw him in Lepcis Magna, just a few weeks back. A calm, sensible slave, he attended the Emperor's envoy, Rutilius Gallicus. At present the last thing I wanted was a social invitation from the man who gave the order to send my brother-in-law to the lions. But n.o.body issues their dinner invitations from the Regia. This was about something else. As I suspected, the message for me was to see Rutilius urgently--on official business. There had to be a religious connection. However, I did not suppose it would involve geese or chickens.

Helena kissed me and said she would go back to see her parents at the Capena Gate before taking Cloelia home. I rushed across the road with the attendant, hoping to find Rutilius still at the Regia in order to avoid chasing around after him.

He was there. He was wearing full senatorial purple. With a sigh, I resumed my toga as I approached.

His slave won a look of approval for finding me so speedily. I received a rather terse greeting. I knew this scenario. Vespasian and various officials had just held a meeting in the pontifical offices. Whatever the agenda, the action plan recorded in the minutes had been dumped on Rutilius Gallicus. Everyone else had now gone home for lunch, each congratulating himself on a successful discussion in which he dodged responsibility. My man from Libya was left in charge of some troublesome task.

I did not waste time or effort in sympathy. If he had sent for me, the next stage was as traditional and simple as the daily lives of the Vestals: the n.o.ble Rutilius would shed the burden; I would acquire it. Then he he was going home for lunch. My eggs and olives would be fed to the dog tonight. was going home for lunch. My eggs and olives would be fed to the dog tonight.

He started by looking around shiftily. Interviewing me at the Regia had not been his intention, and he wanted to find somewhere suitable. Even in a place where every scroll was automatically stamped as confidential, an office would not do, apparently. Bad news.

He led me out into the courtyard, an odd, triangular-shaped area, and also coolly paved in white and gray marble slabs. Around it were various old rooms used for meetings, and scribes' nooks occupied by the guardians of the archives and annals which were stored here. Cut off from the bustle of the Sacred Way by a wall with a m.u.f.fling colonnade, it was quiet, congenial, unhurried. I could hear occasional low voices and the light footfall of sandals on feet that knew the interior corridors.

In the center of the courtyard was a large underground cistern, possibly an old grain silo from centuries ago when people actually lived in Numa's Palace. Rutilius led me here. Standing above it, as if inspecting the structure idly, we could talk without being approached or overheard. This was abnormal secrecy. My fears must be right: he had some ghastly job for me.

"Enjoying your return to Rome, Falco?" I smiled in silence. He could leave out the pleasantries. Rutilius cleared his throat. "Congratulations on your social elevation!" I tucked my thumbs in my belt like a true plebeian. "And Procurator of Poultry, too?" I nodded pleasantly; it was hardly an insult, even though my family all crumpled up in laughter whenever it was mentioned. "You are a man of many talents; well, I realized that in Africa. Somebody told me that you also write poetry?" For one ghastly moment it looked as though he were about to confess that he scribbled too, and would I like to have a look at his notebooks sometime?

I stopped smiling. Poetry? n.o.body asked an informer about his intellectual life. Rutilius must be really desperate.

"We mentioned the other day that I am priest of the Cult of the Deified Emperors?"

"We did, sir. Sodalis Augustalis? Quite an honor."

It was hard to see how he achieved it. He was a first-generation rank-holder from the foot of the Alps; there must have been many a senator just as talented and much better known. His career, as I knew it, was a fair one with the usual civil and military service. Aedile; quaestor; praetor; consul. He had been governor of Galatia when the famous general Corbulo was swashbuckling around that arena. Nero had had Corbulo killed for being too good a soldier. Maybe the incoming Emperor, Galba, hoped to profit from any antagonism Rutilius felt towards Nero afterwards, and that was why he acquired his prestigious priesthood.

If so, Galba died too soon to enjoy any loyalty he tried to cultivate. But Rutilius also had personal connections with the legion Vespasian entrusted to his son t.i.tus (the Fifteenth: my later brother's legion, so I knew just what a close-knit clique those braggarts were). When Vespasian became Emperor, Rutilius somehow pushed to the front, one of the first consuls of the reign. n.o.body had heard of him. Frankly, I had taken no notice of the man either--until I met him out in Tripolitania.

What he did have was ambition. It made him a ferocious hard worker. He was stepping up the treads of power as niftily as a roofer with a shoulder hod of pantiles. This was the kind of official Vespasian liked: Rutilius Gallicus came with no awkward old debts of patronage. Galba was irrelevant; Rutilius had been made by the Flavians. He possessed energy and goodwill, and it was quite likely that whatever had been entrusted to him today he had volunteered for.

I knew I would not be granted the same option.

"I want to talk about a delicate issue, Falco. You are the first choice for the work."

"I usually know what that means, sir."

"It is not dangerous."

"Surprise! So what is it?"

Rutilius remained patient. He understood these were my own pleasantries, a way to brace myself for today's unwanted supplicant and today's sour job.

"There is a problem, one you already know about." He was brisk now. I liked him more. "A child who was to be submitted to the Vestal Virgins' lottery tomorrow has disappeared."

"Gaia Laelia."

"Exactly. You can see the tricky elements--granddaughter of an ex-Flamen Dialis, niece of a Flamen Pomonalis. Apart from needing to find her for humanitarian reasons--"

"They do count, then?"

"Of course! But Falco, this is extremely sensitive."

"I won't suggest the lottery result is already decided, but let's say, sir: if Gaia Laelia were chosen, she would be regarded as highly suitable?"

"Her family background would certainly mean that the Pontifex would feel confident she is fully prepared for a lifetime of service."

"That sounds like an official brief." Rutilius for once grinned in sympathy. "Rutilius, there is no need to dodge. You want me to find her?"

"Well, the Palace fixers are jumpy. The Urban Prefect raised the alarm." Wrong. Lucius Petronius had done that. "Her grandfather has now admitted to Vespasian that she is lost. Somebody learned of your interest. According to Palace records, you still work as a partner with a member of the vigiles. The records are out of date, as always! We had an interesting discussion at the meeting I just attended about how you managed the vigiles' support. Then Vespasian pointed out that your last known colleague was Anacrites, his own Chief Spy."

"More shrieks of outrage ensued?"

"By that stage you had achieved some notoriety, yes."

"So then you said, sir, that my current partner is Camillus Justinus so I no longer pirate my backup from the ranks of public servants. This makes me a responsible hound who can safely be enrolled to sniff out lost Virgins?"

"I said, Falco, you had my utmost confidence as a discreet, efficient operative. You may like to know Vespasian agreed."

"Thank you, sir. If I take this on, I will need entry to the Laelius house and permission to question the family."

Rutilius groaned. "I told them you would ask that."

I gave him a straight stare. "You would do the same." He was silent. "Rutilius, you would not be discussing the matter, had you failed to persuade your colleagues--including the Emperor--that it has to be done this way."

He took a moment before answering. "The Emperor left here on his way to inform Laelius Numentinus that you must be granted access."

"Right." I relaxed. I had been prepared for unacceptable conditions. This job had my interest; I would probably have taken it anyway. "I am not being offensive. You know why I lay down these rules. The child will probably turn up at home. I need to carry out a proper search, which I admit will be intrusive. It has to be. The first place I look will be in their baskets of dirty underwear, and it will get worse from there on. Besides, if her disappearance is no accident, the most likely cause is domestic. It will be vital to question the whole family."

"This is all understood."

"I shall, as you say, be discreet."

"Thanks, Falco."

We had started to move towards one of the courtyard exits, heading for the elderly, foursquare arch of Fabius Maximus over the crossroads on the Sacred Way.

"Why," I asked bluntly, "are we being so careful with this family? Surely it is not just a matter of status?"

Rutilius paused, then shrugged. I felt he knew more than he had said. He gestured to our right as we emerged. "Do you have the current address of the Laelii? Before Numentinus became Flamen Dialis and moved to the official residence, they used to live down there, you know--in one of the great houses that perished in Nero's Great Fire."

"Jupiter! The Sacred Way--the best address in Rome? I know where their new place is, thanks; on the Aventine. A decent house--though hardly the same."

"They were once a prominent family," Rutilius reminded me.

"Obviously. This quarter was favored by famous republicans: Clodius Pulcher, Cicero. And was there not a notorious house along here that was owned by a Scaurus--with those expensive red-black marble columns that ended up on the Theatre of Marcellus? My father is a specialist salesman, and he always cites its record price: fifteen million sesterces it changed hands for once. Gaia Laelia's father has Scaurus as his cognomen; is that significant?"

Rutilius shrugged again. His n.o.ble shoulders were working hard today. "There could well be a past connection. It is a family name, no doubt."

I felt my eyes narrowing. "Do the Laelii have money nowadays?"

"They must have some."