Part 6 (2/2)
”You have heard of her latest indiscretion?” he asked, narroatching Pertinax ”There is a robber at large, named Maternus-you have heard of him? The man appears and disappears Some say he is the same Maternus as crucified near Antioch at about the time when you were there; souises, and to be able to conduct himself so well that he can pass for a patrician Soe band; some say, hardly any followers Soo He is reported to be here, there, everywhere; but there came at last reliable information that he lives in a cave in the woods on an estate that fell to the fiscus (the government departhly to a modern treasury department) at the time when Maximus and his son sextus were proscribed”
Pertinax looked bored He yawned
”I think I will go in and sweat a while,” he remarked
”Not yet Let me finish,” said Livius ”It was reported to Caesar that the highwayman Maternus lives in a cave on this Aventine estate, and that the slaves and tenants on the place, who, of course, all passed to the nehen the estate was sold, not only tolerate him but supply him with victuals and news Caesar went into one of his usual frenzies, cursed half the senators by na ready to embark at Ostia He ordered them to lay waste the estate, burn all the woods and if necessary torture the slaves and tenants, until they had Maternus Dead or alive, they were not to dare to coion was kept waiting at Ostia, with all the usual nuisance of desertions and drunkenness and what not else”
”Everybody knows about that,” said Pertinax ”As governor of Rome it was my duty to point out to the e under arms so near the city I was snubbed for my pains, but I did my duty”
”Your duty? There were plenty of people ain as if he thought he had detected an intrigue
”There were the Ostian authorities, for instance, but I did not hear of their co irritation ”Every day the legion lingered therecity fathers I aoes on”
”Doubtless Being governor of Rome, you naturally-”
”I have heard of peculations at the palace,” Pertinax interrupted
”Be that as itand aenious torments for Maternus Alternatively, he proposed to hihtered in the arena, officers and all, if they should fail of theirback sohtin one of his stor to sta tothe Roustan mood It wasn't safe for any one but Marcia to come within a mile of him Scowl-you know that scowl of his-it freezes the very sentries on the wall if he looks at their backs through the ! I don't suppose there was a woe places with Marcia! He sent for her, and half the palace betted she was ripe for banishment to one of those island retreats where Crispina (the wife of Commodus as banished to the isle of Capreae and there secretly put to death) lived less than a week! But Marcia is fertile of surprises She won't surprise me if she outlives Commodus-by Hercules, she won't surprise me if-”
He stared at Pertinax with impudently keen eyes Pertinax looked at the bronze door leading to the sweating roorown too cool for comfort
”Marcia actually persuaded Co each word ”Alument she used, but if Maternus had been one of her pet Christians she couldn't have saved hier post-haste that night to recall the cohort”
”And a good thing too,” Pertinax reion's business to supply cohorts to do the work of the district police There were five thousand raw e of mutiny in Ostia-”
”And-wait a : Marcia, that saer of her own to find Maternus and to warn hin of nervousness escape him
”In the palace, those of us who value our lives and our fortunes oes on,” Livius answered with a dry laugh, ”just as you take care to knohat goes on in the city, Pertinax”
The older ossip in the palace?” he demanded
”You are the first man I have spoken with There are therefore only three who know, if you count the slave whoood luck not long ago to catch that slave in flagrante delicto-never ether-and he gave ht into a number of useful secrets The point is, that particular slave takes care not to run errands nowadays without infor me There is not much that Marcia does that I don't know about” Livius' eyes suggested gie of the other's expression escaped hi to yawn He slapped his thighs to suggest that his involuntary shudder was due to having sat too long But he did not deceive Livius ”It is known to me,” said Livius, ”that you and Marcia are in each other's confidence”
”That makes me doubt your other information,” Pertinax retorted ”No man can jue withoutme doubt him on all points You bore ; I et that over with”
But Livius' sharp, nervous laugh arrested him
”Not yet, friend Pertinax! Let Rome wait! Rome's affairs will outlive both of us I suspect you intend to tell Marcia to have my name included in the next proscription list! But I am not quite such a simpleton as that Sit down and listen I have proof that you plotted with the governor of Antioch to have an unknown criminal executed in place of a certain Norbanus, who escaped with your connivance and has since becohwayman Maternus That involves you rather seriously, doesn't it! You see, Iyou And now-admit that I approached you tactfully! Come, Pertinax, I er I adard you as a brave and an honorable Roman I propose that you and I shall understand each other You must take me into confidence, or Ipause while a group ofwhile one of thea marble pillar Pertinax frowned Livius did his best to look dependable and friendly, but his eyes were not those of a boon companion
”You are incapable of loyalty to any one except yourself,” said Pertinax at last ”What pledge do you propose to offer me?”