Antonia perceived an insult and bristled, then smiled. "It's all coming back to me now, the things my husband told me about you and your dictation-loving son. You're awfully impertinent, aren't you? My husband admires that in common people." She sighed. "It's a holdover from his younger days when he was married to that daughter of a freedman, Fadia. He comes from one of the best families in Rome, yet he's always had a taste for mucking in the dirt. I suppose it gives him a certain advantage when it comes to endearing himself to the soldiers under his command. They appreciate the common touch. And no one is more common than my husband when he's in his cups, belching and farting and fondling that actress. Cytheris! Do you know where he first saw her? Performing some lewd mime after dinner one night at the house of Volumnius the banker. From that moment on, the two of them commenced to make fools of themselves from one end of Italy to the other. He even wanted to take her along with him when he left Italy to join Caesar. Can you imagine? I told him not to be an idiot. 'Caesar's locked in a life-or-death struggle to make himself master of the world, and you're going to show up at his headquarters with your plaything in tow, both of you reeking of wine and perfume? Do you know what Caesar's going to tell you? "For Jupiter's sake, Antony, put away your sword for once in your life, and get rid of that whore!" ' "

She had strayed a long way from the subject of Cassandra. I cleared my throat.

"Ah! But you came here to talk about that other actress, didn't you?"

"Actress?"

"Cassandra, I mean. I'd sooner call her that than a seeress. Come to think of it, perhaps she was an actress. Like Cytheris, I mean. A trained professional. That would explain…"

"Explain what?"

She looked at me glumly. "All right, I'll tell you. I'll tell you everything. Hades, where is that slave? Ah, there you are! I see you skulking behind that pillar. Get over here and pour me more wine. Mind the peacocks don't bite you. And bring more stuffed dates for the big fellow. It amuses me to watch him eat." She poured another cupful of wine down her throat. "There now, that's better. Back to Cassandra. Cassandra the fake! Cassandra the actress? Maybe. I kept hearing so much about her that finally I went looking for her one day-"

"When was this?"

She shrugged. "Late in the month of Martius, not long after Antony left Italy. I still hadn't received word about the crossing, whether he'd made it safely or not. That was my excuse to seek her out, with that particular question in mind. Anyway, I found her near the marketplace by the river, sitting on a wharf with her feet dangling over the edge, mumbling to herself. Pretty, I suppose, in a common sort of way, but awfully scruffy." Antonia wrinkled her nose. "Ordinarily I can't stand being near such people, but I forced myself to make an exception in her case. I sent a slave to ask her to join me in my litter, but the slave came back and said that Cassandra wouldn't respond. 'She's in some sort of trance,' the stupid slave told me. So I actually climbed out of the litter and went to her myself. 'On your feet,' I said. 'You're coming with me. I'll have you washed and fed, and then we'll see what you're good for.' Cassandra looked up at me and didn't say a word. I was about to speak more sternly to her, but then she slowly got to her feet and followed me back to the litter. She didn't say a word all the way back to my house; she just sat there and stared at me and let me chatter on and on like a fool."

"Imagine that," I muttered under my breath.

"As I said, I sought her out especially to ask about Antony and whether he'd made the sea crossing successfully. I thought I'd test her, you see. When a messenger did arrive with the news, I'd see whether she'd been right or wrong. But she was more slippery than I expected."

"How so?"

Antonia's face darkened. "When we arrived here at the house, I offered her food. She took nothing. That surprised me; I'd heard she was a beggar. Aren't beggars always hungry? Was my food not good enough for her? I offered her clean clothes. She ignored me. I offered her money. She wouldn't take it. I began to think she truly was mad. I asked her what she wanted. She looked at me and said, 'Nothing. You're the one who brought me here. You're the one who wants something.'

"I very nearly struck her, the impertinent bitch! But I decided to test her. 'They say you have second sight,' I said, 'so why should I need to speak to you at all? Can't you tell what I want from you simply by using your gift?' She said, 'It doesn't work like that.' 'Then how does it work?' I asked.

"She explained that over time she'd discovered a way to induce her fits by staring into a flame. So I had a lamp brought. She sat on one side; I sat on the other. And that was when she put on her little performance."

"A performance?"

"What else shall I call it? She suddenly pitched forward, knocking the lamp aside, and gripped my forearm with both hands. 'How dare you touch me?' I said. But she wouldn't let go. She only squeezed me harder, until I gave a cry. Some of the slaves came running; but when they arrived, they kept their distance. They were afraid of her, you see-more afraid of her than of me! I could hardly blame them. Her back was arched, and her head was thrown back. Her eyes were wide open but showed only white. She trembled and shuddered and pitched her head about as if her neck had snapped, but she never loosened her grip on my arm."

"Did she speak?"

"Oh, yes. She babbled nonsense for a while…"

"What sort of nonsense?"

Antonia raised an eyebrow. "Why are you so keen to know, Finder? And how is it that you don't know already? You buried her. Weren't you in league with her?"

"In league with her? How do you mean?"

"Surely you know more about her than I do. Why do you think I've allowed you into my house? Because I thought you could tell me what Cassandra was really up to. Did she put on those performances merely to ingratiate herself, to obtain a bit of food when she was hungry, perhaps a few coins or some cast-off clothing? Did she think she might find a permanent patron, someone who would keep her indefinitely, so long as she kept uttering that mindless drivel? Or was it more sinister than that? Was she deliberately worming her way into this household and that, looking for things to steal? You always have to watch that sort; I knew better than to leave her alone even for a moment! Or perhaps she was looking for information she could use to her advantage. I can imagine her more credulous victims-Cicero's wife comes immediately to mind-opening up to her and spilling all sorts of embarrassing secrets, secrets that could be used against others later. Was that it? Was Cassandra a black mailer?"

I thought about this. "I don't know. Did she try to black mail you?"

"No. But I wasn't so foolish as to tell her anything I didn't want her to know."

"How are you so certain that she was merely putting on a performance?"

Antonia sighed. "You really don't know? Then I suppose I'll tell you. After she finished her 'prophesying'-after I threw her out-I decided to have her followed. I have a fellow who's very good at that. I didn't expect him to discover anything useful. I thought she'd simply go back to the wharf where I'd found her or to some hovel in the Subura, or wherever such creatures come from. But instead she headed for the neighborhood past the Circus Maximus. You know the sort of riffraff who live around there-actors, mimes, chariot racers, acrobats. When Cassandra arrived at her destination, my man recognized the place at once. How many times had he followed my husband to the very same house?"

"Cassandra went directly from your house… to the house of Cytheris?"

"Exactly. I'm told it's quite a nice little place. Her former master Volumnius bought it for her when he made her a freedwoman-a sort of parting gift for many services rendered, I have no doubt. You know why he freed her? It was at Antony's request-a sort of goodwill gesture by which Volumnius hoped to ingratiate himself with Caesar's chief lieutenant. To save face, Volumnius put it about that he'd had his fill of the little whore and didn't mind passing her on to Antony. But I know he was peeved. Well, if he wasn't yet ready to let go of her, he was a fool to show her off at that party where Antony met her. They say Cytheris learned all sorts of ways to please a man-things no respectable woman would consider doing-back in Alexandria where she comes from. That's where her first master, the one before Volumnius, taught her to be an actress. Oh, I call her an actress, but of course women aren't allowed to perform in legitimate plays, only in mime shows, and that's hardly acting, is it? Just a lot of buffoonery and half-naked dancing and declaiming lewd poems. The sort of vulgar nonsense Antony adores!"