.
I felt a sudden chill. I sensed a presence in the room and slowly turned around, almost certain I would see the lemur of Hieronymus standing behind me.
I saw no one. I was alone.
Still, I felt an uncanny sensation of being watched, and in my head I seemed to hear Hieronymus's voice: "How predictable you are, Gordianus! You saw your precious copy of Numa and felt compelled to check at once that I hadn't damaged it—you did exactly as I intended! You found my private notes, intended for my eyes only, while I lived. But now that I'm dead, I wanted you to find my journal, Gordianus, tucked inside your precious Numa . . ."
I shuddered and put the pieces of parchment aside.
I looked through all the other scrolls, but found no more hidden documents. There was one scroll, however, that piqued my curiosity. It was quite different from anything else in the bookcase. It was not a work of history or poetry or drama. It was not even a book, properly speaking, but a collection of odd-sized pieces of parchment stitched together. The various documents did have a common theme: astronomy, if I could judge the enigmatic notations and drawings rightly. The movements of the sun, moon and stars, and the symbols used to represent them, were not things I knew much about. Hieronymus's taste in reading had not run to the scientific, yet these notations appeared to have been made by his own hand.
I gathered up the scrolls which had belonged to me. I decided to leave the other scrolls, for the time being, except the astronomical miscellany, which I wanted to study further. I added that scroll to the others I was taking, along with Hieronymus's private journal.
I stepped outside the apartment and locked the door behind me.
III
"You went to that woman's house, alone ?" Bethesda greeted me in the vestibule with her hands on her hips. "You should have taken Rupa with you for protection. Or at least the two troublemakers, if only to get them out of my hair." She referred to our two young slaves, the brothers Mopsus and Androcles, who were not quite boys anymore but not yet men, either.
"Protection? I hardly needed any. People say the city is quite safe now, with Caesar back in residence and his officers in charge, and with half the citizenry dead or in exile. Caesar himself is said to go strolling about the city with no bodyguard at all."
"Because Venus protects him. But what goddess looks after you?" Bethesda scowled at me. "You're an old man now. Old men make tempting targets for cutthroats and thieves."
"Not as old as that! Why just today, a young slave engaged in a rather obvious and completely unsolicited flirtation with me. Said that I—"
"She probably wanted something from you."
"As a matter of fact—"
"Promise me you won't stir from the house again without taking someone with you."
"Wife! Did we not survive the civil war and the darkest days of the chaos here in Rome? Did we not survive a terrible storm at sea, and a rocky landing in Egypt, and a separation of many months, and my own intention to drown myself in the Nile, when I mistakenly thought that you must have met such a fate? How can you suggest that no gods watch over me? I've always assumed that my life must be providing them with considerable amusement; how else can you explain the fact that I'm still alive?"
She was not impressed. "The gods may have been amused when you were Gordianus the Finder, always sticking your nose where it didn't belong, exposing so-called great men and women as conniving thieves and killers, daring the Fates to strike you down. But what have you done to amuse them lately? You sit at home, play with your grandchildren, and watch the garden grow. The gods have grown bored with you."
"Bethesda! Are you saying that you are bored with me?"
"Of course not. Quite the opposite. I hated it when you were always putting yourself in danger. It seems to me that now is the best time of our lives, when you've finally settled down and no longer have to
I felt a sudden chill. I sensed a presence in the room and slowly turned around, almost certain I would see the lemur of Hieronymus standing behind me.
I saw no one. I was alone.
Still, I felt an uncanny sensation of being watched, and in my head I seemed to hear Hieronymus's voice: "How predictable you are, Gordianus! You saw your precious copy of Numa and felt compelled to check at once that I hadn't damaged it—you did exactly as I intended! You found my private notes, intended for my eyes only, while I lived. But now that I'm dead, I wanted you to find my journal, Gordianus, tucked inside your precious Numa . . ."
I shuddered and put the pieces of parchment aside.
I looked through all the other scrolls, but found no more hidden documents. There was one scroll, however, that piqued my curiosity. It was quite different from anything else in the bookcase. It was not a work of history or poetry or drama. It was not even a book, properly speaking, but a collection of odd-sized pieces of parchment stitched together. The various documents did have a common theme: astronomy, if I could judge the enigmatic notations and drawings rightly. The movements of the sun, moon and stars, and the symbols used to represent them, were not things I knew much about. Hieronymus's taste in reading had not run to the scientific, yet these notations appeared to have been made by his own hand.
I gathered up the scrolls which had belonged to me. I decided to leave the other scrolls, for the time being, except the astronomical miscellany, which I wanted to study further. I added that scroll to the others I was taking, along with Hieronymus's private journal.
I stepped outside the apartment and locked the door behind me.
III
"You went to that woman's house, alone ?" Bethesda greeted me in the vestibule with her hands on her hips. "You should have taken Rupa with you for protection. Or at least the two troublemakers, if only to get them out of my hair." She referred to our two young slaves, the brothers Mopsus and Androcles, who were not quite boys anymore but not yet men, either.
"Protection? I hardly needed any. People say the city is quite safe now, with Caesar back in residence and his officers in charge, and with half the citizenry dead or in exile. Caesar himself is said to go strolling about the city with no bodyguard at all."
"Because Venus protects him. But what goddess looks after you?" Bethesda scowled at me. "You're an old man now. Old men make tempting targets for cutthroats and thieves."
"Not as old as that! Why just today, a young slave engaged in a rather obvious and completely unsolicited flirtation with me. Said that I—"
"She probably wanted something from you."
"As a matter of fact—"
"Promise me you won't stir from the house again without taking someone with you."
"Wife! Did we not survive the civil war and the darkest days of the chaos here in Rome? Did we not survive a terrible storm at sea, and a rocky landing in Egypt, and a separation of many months, and my own intention to drown myself in the Nile, when I mistakenly thought that you must have met such a fate? How can you suggest that no gods watch over me? I've always assumed that my life must be providing them with considerable amusement; how else can you explain the fact that I'm still alive?"
She was not impressed. "The gods may have been amused when you were Gordianus the Finder, always sticking your nose where it didn't belong, exposing so-called great men and women as conniving thieves and killers, daring the Fates to strike you down. But what have you done to amuse them lately? You sit at home, play with your grandchildren, and watch the garden grow. The gods have grown bored with you."
"Bethesda! Are you saying that you are bored with me?"
"Of course not. Quite the opposite. I hated it when you were always putting yourself in danger. It seems to me that now is the best time of our lives, when you've finally settled down and no longer have to
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