Man of God (10 page)

He directed a look at Megara that meant:
Go ahead and do your worst, if you’re going to do it.
Aloud
he said, “Do you have anything else of which to accuse us?”

Megara raised her chin and remained
silent.

“Well,” said Horatius, “that’s good enough
for me. I think we should all leave now, and come together at my
house on the Lord’s day. Antonius, may I speak to you in
private?”

As the two men stepped aside, Lucia walked to
Rachel’s thick wooden door and opened it, calling to the children.
As everyone prepared to leave, there were smiles and more embraces
and tears; there were both hard looks at Megara and compassionate
ones. Lucia came back to Alysia and whispered, “I am so sorry. If
only I had known what she really wanted!”

“It isn’t your fault, Lucia—you mustn’t worry
at all.”

“She was so convincing. She said she’d heard
through a mutual friend that we were believers and she wanted to
know how she could become one. I couldn’t think…you know I haven’t
been myself. I thought it would be good to bring her here. In fact,
she specifically asked to come here, because she had heard about
Antonius and you.”

“Of course—in your place I would have done
the same thing. Please, Lucia, do put it out of your mind! But, I
would be grateful if you would let us know if anyone else…asks
about us.”

“Believe me, I will!”

Horatius finished his conversation with
Paulus, and soon everyone had left except Megara and Simon. Alysia
was still too angry, and too aware of Megara’s hostility, to be
relieved. Why had she not told what she knew?

“Thank you, Simon, for coming to our
defense,” Paulus was saying. “You have a right to know how all this
came about. I think we’ll be much interested in hearing what Megara
has to say.”

* * *

She still sat on the bench she’d claimed when
she came in. She stood up slowly, removing her light cloak and the
veil that now hung loosely around her shoulders. She placed them
with exaggerated deliberation on the bench, and retook her seat
beside them.

Paulus and Alysia sat across from her, while
Simon found a cushion on the floor as far away as possible, and sat
cross-legged upon it. He appeared as angry as Alysia felt. Rachel
had been asked to remain in her room.

“Very well. We’ll begin with my ‘suicide’,
then.” Her gaze shifted to Alysia. “You gave me the idea. Did you
think you were the only one who could pretend to be dead?”

“I did no such thing! I didn’t know the ship
had sunk or that Paulus believed me dead.”

“But it was very convenient, wasn’t it, since
you were being sought for murder? And Paulus found you—so you must
have written him where you were.”

“No. Paulus was appointed to a post in
Jerusalem. I was living in Bethany, but I was in Jerusalem when he
found me.”

“I don’t believe in coincidence,” Megara
drawled, her eyes cold.

“Neither do I,” Paulus interrupted. “Get on
with your story, Megara.”

Her gaze shifted to him. “As you know,
Paulus, everything was in chaos by the time I got back to
Rome—after you sent me away. Certainly I knew you could claim that
as a divorce. I am not stupid! Sejanus had been executed and
everyone was suspicious of everyone else. Some of my friends were
visiting Tiberius at Capri, and so I went there, pretending to
visit
them
. I wanted to find out what your position was with
Tiberius. He was killing everyone that he thought might have
supported Sejanus, and although it was well-known that you and
Sejanus were at odds, I needed to know what Tiberius thought of
you.”

“You needn’t go into your interesting theory
about how I could be consul, or emperor, or whatever you thought.
I’m sure you wanted to know if
you
were in danger, since
wives are usually sentenced with their husbands.”

“I knew that if you were condemned, you would
either be executed or forced to commit suicide, and I would
probably share the same fate. But Tiberius spoke well of you. You
were much closer than you know, Paulus, to being named his
successor, even if it was to be a joint rule with Caligula or
someone else. Until you disappeared, that is.”

“That’s nonsense, Megara. Tiberius wanted to
destroy Rome in the end, and he thought Caligula was just the man
to do it!”

Megara looked suddenly drawn and old; she
leaned the back of her head against the wall and sighed. “Caligula
was there, of course, at Capri. There were dinner parties every
night. One night I happened to say something against you—some
criticism, I can’t even remember what it was—and Caligula took it
to mean that I approved of something Sejanus had done. He made much
of it; he could see that it frightened me to think he would report
it to Tiberius. I couldn’t stop thinking about it. People had been
killed for less than that…even for being seen in the company of
Sejanus!”

She paused, seeming to realize that her
posture had drooped in resignation, and straightened herself. “I
knew that you probably considered yourself divorced from me,
although you hadn’t actually said it. I knew I had no chance of
being…well, never mind. And I believed my life was in danger. So I
decided to disappear as well.”

There was a brief silence. Paulus took
Alysia’s hand in his; Megara saw it and her mouth tightened.

“How did you manage to fool so many people?”
Simon asked.

Megara stiffened. “Would you tell that slave
not to speak to me?”

Paulus looked as though he wanted to laugh at
her absurdity. “He’s not a slave any longer, Megara, and I see you
are as much a snob as ever. Please answer the question.”

She glared at him. “You remember my slave,
Tertius?”

“If you mean the mute you used to have follow
me, yes.”

“He has been very useful to me. As have my
other slaves. They do exactly as I tell them. I staged everything
perfectly. I filled the bathtub with water and goat’s blood, and
smeared the blood on my arms, so that when the slaves “found” me,
they could show my body to my father. I knew he wouldn’t be
convinced unless he saw it, and I knew he wouldn’t come too close.
I left two letters. One gave the reason for my suicide. The other
contained instructions about my burial.”

“Your suicide letter would have led the
authorities straight to Alysia…if your father hadn’t destroyed
it.”

Megara frowned. “I often wondered what
happened to it, since I knew she was never arrested. My father was
a fool.”

“I was sorry to hear of his death,” Paulus
said. “He was a good man.”

“Never mind. Yes, I admit—that was my way to
get back at both of you. But this way is much better.”

Alysia started to say something, but Paulus’
hand tightened on hers and she forced herself to remain still. She
could cheerfully have snatched a handful of Megara’s mousy-looking
hair.

Megara went on, “My burial instructions were
these: I didn’t wish my body to be burned…I wished to be placed in
a tomb in the manner of the Egyptians. Tertius pretended to take
care of all the arrangements. A large doll was prepared and wrapped
up like a mummy. It was put in a casket and carried through the
streets. Everyone was fooled! Even Caligula!”

“I think,” Paulus said, “everyone was
familiar enough with your vanity to believe you’d rather be
preserved than burned.”

“Insult me if it pleases you, perhaps I
deserve it! Anyway, I changed my appearance and went to live in
another city. My slaves were instructed to watch and listen for
news of you…and her. I wanted to know when you were arrested. When
I didn’t hear anything for a long time I sent one of them to
Jerusalem to make inquiries. You remember Lucius’ friend,
Servius—he told my slave all about how you fought with Lucius over
that woman, and about your child. And that was when you
disappeared.”

“But now you have found me,” Paulus said
quietly. “I’d like to know how you accomplished such a feat, while
the entire Roman army has failed.”

A slight, pleased smile touched her mouth.
“It was really not so difficult. Servius told me many things about
you. How you were present at the execution of this Jesus of
Nazareth, and that you showed sympathy to his followers. Alysia,
too, was known to be one of his followers. When I heard that you
had been seen in Rome, I sent my slaves to start looking for you
among these…Nazarenes. Obviously that hadn’t occurred to the army,
or to Caligula. Probably it’s too hard to believe that you would
stoop to such a thing—I can hardly believe it myself!”

“I’ll be glad to explain it to you.”

“I don’t really care, Paulus. And as for
finding you, once my slaves started inquiring among this sect, and
provided descriptions of both of you, many were found who know you.
They know where you live. They know who their fellow ‘believers’
are. I came to Rome as soon as I knew you’d been found, and
discovered that not only are you a believer but you are a leader
among them, and that you are known by the name Antonius. I selected
Camillus and Lucia as the ones I would approach, and told them I
had heard of your work and wanted to know more. They are,” she said
derisively, “very trusting people.”

“They had no reason to feel threatened by
you. I’m sorry you used them in such a way.”

“Well, you’d better hope Caligula doesn’t get
wind of the fact that you’re in this cult, or he’ll find you as
easily as I did.”

Paulus released Alysia’s hand and stood up.
He walked halfway down the corridor and stopped, turning back
toward Megara. “Why didn’t you tell everything tonight, while you
were at it? What do you want?”

For the first time Megara looked faintly
uncomfortable. “The money I took with me when I left has almost run
out. And when my father died Caligula stole everything that should
have been mine. He does that, you know, when wealthy people die. I
was planning to write my father and tell him I was still alive…and
then he just dropped dead one day! I wouldn’t be surprised if
Caligula poisoned him.”

“What makes you think I have money?”

“You’re a very rich man, Paulus, and a clever
one. You would have found a way to keep it.”

“I don’t have any way to get the money,
Megara. I did have it put in another name, but the person who got
it for me is being watched now, and I don’t want to put anyone else
at risk.”

“I can get it. Write out a document and sign
it, in whatever name you have placed the money.”

“What if you are seen in the forum, and
recognized?”

“I won’t be. And I don’t think anything will
happen if I am. The bloodbath over Sejanus is finished, and
Caligula wouldn’t dare do anything to me. He would probably think
it funny and admirable that I faked my death to get away from
Tiberius.”

“If any of the bankers know you, they might
assume you’ve been helping me.”

She said quickly, “Not if the money’s in
another name. No one could guess it’s connected with you. And how
could they possibly know
me
?”

“A little investigation would bring out the
truth, should anyone become suspicious. And if you’re recognized,
you can be sure Caligula will question you about my
whereabouts.”

“I am a very convincing liar,” she answered,
with a straight face, “given the right motivation.”

“Megara, I would have given you money had you
simply come to me and asked. But true to your nature, you slither
in with your poisonous schemes and try to bring the world down
about everybody’s feet!”

“I’m glad I did it! Those poor trusting fools
need to know what you really are! You and that—that slave!”

Alysia got slowly to her feet with such
barely-controlled rage that Megara poised herself to flee. “Get out
of my house. We will not submit to your threats. Go, and take your
chances with Caligula. He may not take kindly to being made to look
like a fool, walking in the funeral procession of a doll—dressed as
a mummy!”

Megara stood up, clutching her cloak and
veil, never taking her eyes from Alysia. “Paulus, is this your
answer?”

“Wait, Alysia.” Paulus strode forward and put
his arm around his wife. Simon got up and stood by the door, ready
to usher Megara out to her conveyance…if there was one. He hoped he
wouldn’t be obliged to take her to wherever she was—lurking.

“I will do as you ask, and write out a letter
for you to draw a certain amount each month. But not to keep you
quiet. I’ll give it to you because you are my former wife and I
feel an obligation toward you. You need feel no burden to keep
silent, unless your conscience bids you do so.”

She said haughtily, “If I report you, I lose
the money!”

“I would try to arrange it so that half of it
goes to you in the event of our arrest, or death. The other half to
Rachel’s guardian, who will be Simon. But bear in mind that it’s
very likely Caligula would take all of it, if anyone discovers it
belonged to me.”

Now Megara looked baffled, as though he had
displayed some lunacy. “Why would you do that?”

Paulus shook his head. “I’m trying to do the
right thing, Megara. You make it very difficult.”

She stared at him; he could almost see her
thoughts racing. Then she looked warily at Alysia, who had stepped
away from Paulus and was standing in front of the window, the
breeze catching her hair and the edges of her gown. Megara watched
as Paulus’ eyes went to his wife, and saw in them a look that she
couldn’t define. She only knew he’d never looked at her that way.
Well, Alysia didn’t seem so happy now…perhaps now their marriage
would not be such rapture and bliss!

“It will be pleasant to hold your lives in my
hands,” she said. “I won’t betray you…yet.”

***

Megara left after obtaining her draft to the
banker, joining her slave, Tertius, who waited in a small carriage
just over the incline. Simon followed soon afterward. Alysia went
into Rachel’s room, but her daughter had already put out the lamp
and gone to sleep…at least she seemed to be asleep. Alysia wondered
how much she had heard.