“Right! You can come with me.” Sosia murmured that she felt safe enough. Mother gave her a sharp look; Sosia went with my mama.

Now Petronius, bless him, weighed in to help me out.

“Time we took you home, little lady!”

I told Sosia how the senator had engaged me. From which she assumed rather too much.

“So he explained? I thought Uncle Decimus was being over cautious at first—” She stopped, then rounded on me accusingly, “You don’t know what I’m talking about!”

“Tell me then,” I said very gently.

She was deeply troubled. Her great eyes flew towards my mother. People always trust my mother. “I don’t know what to do!” she pleaded.

My mother answered huffily, “Don’t look at me, I never interfere.”

I snorted at this. Ma ignored it, but even Petro had let slip a stifled guffaw of amusement.

“Oh, tell him about your bank box, child. The worst he can do is steal it,” mother said. Such wonderful faith! I suppose you can’t blame her. My elder brother Festus for some peculiar reason made himself a military hero. I can’t compete with that.

“Uncle Decimus is hiding something very important in my bank box in the Forum,” Sosia muttered guiltily. “I’m the only person who knows the number to open the box. Those men were taking me there.”

I stared at her with a set face, making her suffer. In the end I turned man-to-man to Petronius. “What do you think?” I had no doubt of his answer.

“Stroll along and look!”

Sosia Camillina was behaving very meekly, but she did pipe up to warn us we should need to take a handcart to carry the loot.

XI

The Forum was cooler and quieter than when I was here with Sosia before, especially in the long colonnade where moneychangers offered safe deposits for nervous citizens. The Camillus family banked with a grinning Bithynian who had invested unhealthily in excess body fat. Sosia whispered a number to identify her property; happyface unlocked her box. It was a large box, although what was inside turned out to be comparatively small.

The box lid fell back. Sosia Camillina stood to one side. When Petro and I peered in, her savings were even less impressive than mine. Her uncle hired her this strongbox as a sensible discipline, but she owned no more than ten gold coins and a few decent pieces of jewellery that her aunt thought she was too young yet to wear. (It was a point of view. She was old enough for me.)