The older man looked worried.

"Do you mean it is common gossip 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 whom Marcia employed; four if you
count Marcia. I had the great good luck not long ago to catch that
slave in flagrante delicto--never mind what he was doing; that is
another story altogether--and he gave me an insight into a number of
useful secrets. The point is, that particular slave takes care not to
run errands nowadays without informing me. There is not much that
Marcia does that I don't know about." Livius' eyes suggested gimlets
boring holes into Pertinax's face. Not a change of the other's
expression escaped him. Pertinax covered his mouth with his hand,
pretending 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 jump to such a ridiculous conclusion and call it knowledge without
making me doubt him on all points. You bore me, Livius. I have
important business waiting; I must make haste into the sweating room
and get 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