Hear Me, Pilate!

The capricious flame spattered darts of thin yellow light on walls and floor as the doors swung gently closed. Claudia turned from her tall, deeply tanned, uniformed escort to address the servant who had let them in. "I won't be needing you tonight, Tullia. You may go now. But wait ... before you leave, we shan't be wanting all these lamps. Put out all but that one"-she pointed-"and then you may go to bed. Poor thing, I know you're tired." She peered beyond the wide archway opening onto the peristylium. "I see you left a lamp burning in my bedroom. Good. Well, then, just put these others out. "I don't know what I'd do without her," Claudia said as the servant snuffed out the flame and, bowing to them, disappeared into the now darkened corridor. "She's a treasure, Longinus, intelligent, faithful, and, most important, she's utterly loyal. She would die before betraying me. She's Phoebe's daughter, and Phoebe, you know, hanged herself rather than be a witness against my mother. Tullia, I'm sure, would do the same thing for me." She pointed toward the peristylium. "Let's sit out there in the moonlight. It seems a little warm in here, doesn't it?"