The Unwilling Vestal Part 24

Consequently their attempts to cross from Gaul to Britain or from Britain to Gaul were restricted to occasions when, at and after sunset, the sky was clear, the sea calm and the wind favorable. Only under those circ.u.mstances could they be reasonably sure of the conditions remaining unaltered until the transit was accomplished. In practice about sixty-five nights in a year promised well for traffic. With sea transit so restricted, communication with Britain was infrequent, and news of Almo irregular.

Besides his letters to Flexinna he wrote occasionally to Vocco. Vocco also had hopes of hearing from some of his comrades in arms. But as Valentia was a place of semi-exile for incompetent, illiterate, drunken and reckless officers, small reliance could be placed on any such channel of news.

Therefore, with Brinnaria's knowledge and at her expense, Vocco had arranged to have an unremitting watch kept on Almo by skillful hirelings of the Imperial information department. These men sent messages whenever it was possible, and their reports were consistently favorable.

The frontier of Caledonia offered no such opportunities for distinction and promotion as the outskirts of the Sahara had afforded. Military duty from the Forth to the Clyde was monotonous and wearisome. But, considering his environment, Almo did very well. He was liked by his companions, loved by his subordinates and worshipped by his men. What there was to do he did capably, and in his leisure, among comrades who guzzled wine and gambled like madmen, he was always sober and never abused the dice, which were an inevitable social feature of all Roman outpost existence.

Aurelius spent the last four years of his life along the headwaters of the Danube and Rhine, where the rising tide of Germanic migrations beat incessantly at the outworks of the Empire. His death at Vienna occurred when Brinnaria was twenty-nine years old and had been nineteen years a Vestal. He was succeeded by his son Antoninus, whose obliging disposition and easy-going manners made him exceedingly popular with his cronies, the young fops, dandies and sports of Roman society, and led to his being known among them as "the good fellow," which nickname of "Commodus" soon supplanted his given names and official t.i.tles, on the lips first of the Romans, then of the Italians, soon of all his subjects everywhere.

Commodus was not in Rome when his father died and it was therefore not possible for Brinnaria to have an audience with him. She dreaded that a change of governors in Britain might work unfavorably for Almo.

In consultation with Vocco she did what she could, through the city Prefect in charge of Rome during the Emperor's absence, and through other officials, to make sure that any new governor of Britain would be fully informed of the secret instructions which Aurelius had given Opstorius concerning Almo. She also did all that was possible to have Commodus reminded of the matter. This was difficult at a distance and a delicate undertaking at any time and in any place, no Emperor ever relishing the a.s.sumption that he need be reminded of anything, while the necessity for emphasis and secrecy at one and the same time taxed the best ingenuity. With the great influence possessed by the Vestals, they hoped that they had succeeded.

But when Commodus had been Emperor a little over a year, Brinnaria, as she descended from her carriage at Vocco's door, felt a thrill of vague foreboding. On entering the house her premonition of something wrong intensified. At first sight Flexinna's face confirmed her suspicions.

However, she asked no questions and worked off her feelings by a series of high dives, followed by fancy-stroke swimming under water. She came up from her tenth plunge sufficiently exhausted to feel to some extent soothed.

As they composed themselves on the dining-sofas Vocco and Flexinna exchanged glances. Brinnaria did not wait for either to speak.

"I am afraid," she said, "that my appet.i.te is not as reliable as it was ten years ago. I think we had best eat our dinner first and discuss our bad news afterwards." Vocco and Flexinna looked distinctly relieved.

Brinnaria's appet.i.te seemed excellent. She ate abundantly, and, after the dinner tray was removed and the dessert tray brought in, she relished a half a dozen of her favorite purple figs. Savoring her gla.s.s of Vocco's exquisite Setian wine she asked:

"What has gone wrong, Quintus?"

"Just precisely what we feared has happened," Vocco replied. "In spite of all our efforts Hostidius appears to have known nothing whatever about Almo's peculiar past or of the special instructions Aurelius gave Opstorius.

"Almo has practically repeated the vagary he perpetrated at Hippo. He induced Hostidius to give him a full, honorable discharge from the army and later wheedled the governor into authorizing him to have himself sold as a slave."

"What maggot can he have in his brain," Brinnaria burst in, "that he is so fascinated with the idea of being sold as a slave? What earthly basis can there be for the enticement it holds out to him? Being sold as a slave is universally regarded as the worst fate that can befall a man in life. What makes the prospect of life as a slave so alluring to him?"

"Flexinna and I have been debating that point," said Vocco, "but we cannot so much as think up a conjecture.

"As to the facts there can be no doubt. He was publicly sold in the marketplace of Eborac.u.m."

"At least," Brinnaria breathed, "we have not lost track of him this time."

"We have not," Vocco answered, "and I'll wager we shall not."

"Is it prize-fighting again?" Brinnaria queried, "or is it really charioteering this time?"

"Neither," said Vocco. "I must say it sounds like lunacy. But all Almo's words and all the small details of his behavior show no signs of derangement. Up to the last report he slept well, ate well, looked well, talked sensibly, in respect to all minor matters acted like a rational being, and seemed to thrive. But what he did in the large sense appears incredible.

"He had himself advertised for sale as an expert farm overseer, was bought by a prosperous proprietor whose properties are situated in the southwestern part of Britain and there, near Ischalis, he has settled down to the management of a large estate; large at least for that part of the world. He was giving excellent satisfaction in his dealings with the slaves and by his knowledge of budding, grafting, transplanting and of all the mysteries of gardening, orchard lore, and of agriculture in general."

"Yes," Brinnaria reflected, "he was keen on all that sort of thing while he was at the villa near Falerii. Such knowledge, gained in boyhood, sinks in deep and is never forgotten. He is not playing a part or pretending; he is really enjoying farm life. But what kink in his head makes him fancy that he prefers to enjoy it as a slave rather than as a free man? That puzzles me. Why be sold as a slave in order to bask in rural delights when he could buy the ten largest estates in Britain and never feel the outlay? When after his honorable discharge from the army he was at liberty to remain in Britain openly and to do as he liked? Can you see through it?"

Flexinna and Vocco agreed that they saw no glimmer of light.

"At least," Brinnaria summed up, "he is in Britain and we can arrange to prevent his leaving the island. Certainly we can have him watched, wherever he goes."

Vocco at once set about making the arrangements to ensure that Almo would not leave Britain. Within a half year he had to report that their efforts had been futile.

"We were too late," he said. "He did not remain at Ischalis a year.

Egnatius Probus, of Fregellae, had been in Britain more than ten years as adviser to the tax-department. His health had given way and he was taking the waters at Aquae Solis. He was an acquaintance of Almo's owner and went down to Ischalis after his water-cure had had its effect and he felt better. While visiting and idling at Ischalis he took a fancy to Almo, offered a high price for him and bought him. He returned home by way of Ma.r.s.eilles and from there by ship to Puteoli. He is now on his estates near Fregellae and Almo is his head overseer, in charge of the entire place. He has been there three months already."

Brinnaria fidgeted on her sofa, for, as on the previous occasion, Vocco had imparted his news after dinner.

"Give me another goblet of that Setian you bought from Zaelis," she said. "I'm getting to be a confirmed wine-bibber. At every piece of bad news I need a bracer."

After she had emptied her gla.s.s, she burst out:

"If Almo is acting as villicus of an estate near Fregellae he must be living with some slave-woman or other."

"He is not," Vocco informed her. "I made careful inquiries on just that point and got my information from two different sources. Almo told Egnatius that he was a woman-hater and could not endure a woman about him. Egnatius humored him and he is acting villicus without any villica.

The wife of the a.s.sistant overseer does whatever is necessary in the way of prayers and sacrifices and such duties of a villica. She and her husband occupy the overseer's house and Almo is living in the hut meant for the a.s.sistant villicus."

"Did anybody ever hear the like!" exclaimed Brinnaria.

Vocco's agents verified this news and made it quite certain that Almo was masquerading as a slave and as a villicus of a fine estate in lower Latium, near Fregellae, southeast of Rome on the Latin highroad, about half way between Capua and the capital.

Brinnaria found herself very much in a quandary, and discussions with Flexinna and Vocco, however lengthy and however often repeated, left her just where she started. They could not decide whether it was best to do nothing or to interfere, and whether, if they were to interfere, what form their intervention should take.

Should Vocco travel to Fregellae and force an interview with Almo and try to appeal to his better self? If so, should he do so without apprizing Egnatius of the real name and origin of his overseer? Or should they enlighten Egnatius under a pledge of secrecy and afterwards decide whether or not to make an attempt to recall Almo to his natural way of life? Should they do any of these things without appealing to the Emperor or would it be better first to inform Commodus? They debated over and over every line of conduct any one of them could suggest. After all complete inaction and entire secrecy seemed best.

This view was confirmed when Brinnaria consulted Celsia.n.u.s, the most reputed physician of Rome. She had already confided in Lutorius, who informed Celsia.n.u.s, arranged for an interview and was present at it.

The great man said: "Almo is not necessarily or even probably deranged.

On the face of what you tell me the most unfavorable conjecture I could form would be that he has resolved to commit suicide. You will say that the idea is absurd, that suicide is easy and that the means are always at hand, which is quite true.

"But there are cases, more numerous than you could fancy, of persons who make up their minds to bring about their end in some unimaginable manner, of which n.o.body but themselves would ever have thought. Then they lay complicated plans and by devious ways approach their purpose.

If they are thwarted or diverted, they never end their lives in any other fashion than by the special method they have devised.

"I am inclined to think that Almo's entrance into a gang of sword-fighters was caused by some such intention, that he is alive because the circ.u.mstances he looked forward to never conspired to give him just the kind of death he preferred. I am inclined to think that he is now working towards some unthinkable exit from life.

"But I am not much disposed to think his such a case at all. It may be a mere whim of self-torment, or it may be spontaneous yielding to a genuine liking for the life he is living. What one human being likes cannot be realized by other human beings, in many cases.

"My advice is to let him entirely alone. If you interfere you may precipitate his suicide, if he meditates suicide. By calling in the help of the Emperor or of his owner or both, you may destroy the chances, the very good chances, of his returning to his full senses. Men in his state of mind are often sane in all respects, and, if unsettled, are deranged only in one particular. They are generally wholly reasonable on all points except as to their fad of the moment. If that wears off they are entirely rational. Let him alone. Watch him, but take no other steps."

This advice seemed simple enough, but carrying it out proved more of a strain than Brinnaria could have foreseen. The knowledge that Almo was in Italy, near Fregellae, actually in Latium and within seventy miles of Rome, that he was living in the hut of an under-farm-bailiff, that he perhaps purposed some eccentric method of suicide proved racking to her nerves. She became irritable and fidgety, her music failed to solace or comfort her and sometimes almost bored her. She groped blindly for something to distract her mind.

First she had a brief but violent attack of solicitude for her pauper tenants. She found entertainment in visiting her slum properties and in endeavoring to alleviate the condition of their inmates. They were far from grateful. To have a Vestal, clad in the awe-inspiring dignity of her white robes, with all her badges of office, six braids, headdress, headband, ta.s.sels, ribbons, brooch and all descend from her dazzlingly upholstered carriage and invade the courtyard of their hive was thrilling but still more disconcerting to a swarm of slum sp.a.w.n. They bragged of the honor for the rest of their lives and strutted over it for months, but they were unaffectedly relieved to see her depart.

Her inquiries as to their means of livelihood were excruciatingly embarra.s.sing. The Roman populace, all freemen with their wives and children, were legally ent.i.tled to free seats at the spectacles and to cooked rations from the government cook-shops in their precinct. They throve on their free rations. Of their own efforts they had merely to clothe themselves and pay the rent of their quarters. Cash for rent and garments they obtained in whatever way happened to be easiest, often by dubious means. As to their resources they were reticent.

In particular, Brinnaria was unable to cajole any admission, by word or silence, from any dweller in one of her largest rookeries, and they were better off than any tenants she had, too. What was more, not one of their neighbors would impart any information about them..

Brinnaria's curiosity was aroused. She bethought herself of Truttidius, the sieve-maker, and of his intimate knowledge of all the dens and lairs in the city.

She asked him. He laughed.