Death at Pompeia's Wedding Read Online Free PDF Page B

on his feet, and stumbling so much it took three servants to escort him to his room. They are still at his bedside looking after him.’
    Helena Domna drew in a swift, shocked breath but it was Vinerius who spoke. ‘Nonsense, boy. It would take a whole amphora to make a man so sick – and it would have to be taken undiluted too. Honorius would never drink to such excess – certainly not on an important occasion like today. It’s the kind of bad behaviour he would not tolerate!’
    Helena Domna shook her head. ‘Then perhaps this boy was right. There must have been a problem with the wine. Thank Jupiter we hadn’t yet served it to the guests – or we should have been accused of attempted poisoning. Don’t shake your head Vinerius – it could only be your merchandise that brought all this about, Honorius was perfectly all right when he left the atrium. I spoke to him myself, just after we had the message about the walnuts, earlier.’
    ‘And when he sent me to fetch them, he was his normal self,’ the little page piped up. I had almost forgotten that he was standing there. ‘Whatever happened, it was very fast.’
    Vinerius gave him a baleful glare and cleared his throat. It was clear that he was seriously worried now. ‘Helena Domna, I am desolated by this news. But I assure you it was nothing to do with my goods at all. It would take an amazingly strong drink to cause intoxication of that kind so soon – some rough and undiluted home-made brew perhaps – and there was certainly nothing like that in the batch I sent today. They were splendid, most expensive wines – the finest that I have – part of a shipment that arrived from Rome a day or two ago. I personally sampled each variety and invited Honorius and his wife to my humble table so that he could do the same. That was the basis on which he made his choice.’
    Helena Domna’s thin nose had turned as scarlet as her face was pale. ‘And is it not possible that one amphora failed, and there was contamination of the wine inside?’
    She had a point. Vinerius countered it. ‘That has been known to happen – even with fine wines. Doubtless that’s why he was testing each of them – but there couldn’t be anything that would have this effect. The wine might taste a little peculiar, that’s all. And of course – if that proves to be the case and he sends it back to me, I will replace it instantly and refund the cost. But I’m sure the goods I sent to him were sound.’
    Helena Domna gave him a mirthless smile. ‘Then you will do me the favour of testing them yourself, since you are so confident of their quality. Even if Honorius is too ill to appear we shall have to offer something to our invitees, especially if they are denied a wedding and a feast. I should hate to cause illness among our other guests. But you are confident . . .?’ There was a painful moment. I saw him hesitate.
    ‘Wait a minute,’ I said suddenly. ‘This may not be simply a problem with the batch. You spoke of attempted poisoning a little while ago. Vomiting and weakness and numbness of the legs? You don’t suppose it might be . . . aconite?’ It was such a bizarre suggestion that I almost hesitated to express it, and they were all staring at me as though I were deranged.
    ‘Poison?’ Helena Domna was incredulous. ‘In wine intended for a wedding feast? That is nonsensical. Who could possibly want to do a thing like that? And why? One couldn’t know who’d drink it – it might make everybody ill. And, more particularly, how could it occur? The wine was only delivered this morning at the house.’
    ‘Someone might have tampered with an amphora since, I suppose,’ Vinerius was positively anxious to approve my reasoning. ‘Some sort of enemy of the family, perhaps? There must be lots of strangers in the house today.’
    His stout wife nodded. ‘And the citizen is right. Those could be symptoms of wolfsbane poisoning. If so, poor Honorius needs treatment urgently.