Lindsay Townsend - Flavia's Secret

Flavia's Secret is set in Roman Britain in the 2nd Century A.D. It will be published in late 2008, initially as an e-book, with a print version to follow.

An extract from Flavia's Secret, Lindsay Townsend's novel set in Roman times

Britannia, 206 A.D.

Flavia was sweeping leaves when he came out of the villa. Carrying a brazier, he strolled down the steps past the frosted lavender bushes with that loose-limbed stride of his, looking as if he owned the place. Which he did, she conceded. Marcus Brucetus now owned the villa and everyone inside it.

She clutched the broom close and darted behind one of the columns fringing the square courtyard and its central open space, whispering, 'Please.'

Please do not see me, she meant. She wanted him to leave, to be an absentee landlord of this small estate in provincial Britannia. It would be safer for everyone if he left. He had been watching her at the funeral, scrutinizing her with thoughtful dark eyes. She hoped he had forgotten her since then.

She risked peeping round the column. He had set the brazier in the middle of the courtyard. beside the ivy-clad statue of the god Pan, and was coaxing the fire into leaping tongues of flame. In the red glow of dawn and the orange glare of the brazier she could see him plainly. He was tall and long legged, his simple dark red tunic showing off muscular shoulders. Above tanned, lean features, his short, dark brown hair looked as tough and straight as a boar's pelt. A tribune, off-duty and no longer in armor, but still a soldier and a Roman, one of the conquerors of her country.

'Come here, Flavia,' he said quietly, without raising his head.

Disconcerted at being discovered and more so by his remembering her name, Flavia stepped out of the shadows of the peristyle and approached, her rag-shod feet soundless on the icy gravel path.

'Gaius said that I would find you out here.'

Another shock, she thought. He spoke her language perfectly. Satisfied with the fire, he looked her up and down, studying her flyaway hair and wiry figure, her baggy, patched dress of undyed wool, one of the cook's cast-offs. She gasped as he took the broom from her.

'I ask you again - is sweeping not Sulinus' job? He is the gardener.'

'He's chopping wood,' Flavia stammered, ashamed and alarmed at having missed Marcus Brucetus' first question. She was conscious of his height and strength, both in stark contrast to the frail, elderly bodies of the male household slaves.

'Sweeping is one of your tasks?'

Flavia nodded. 'When Lady Valeria was alive, she wanted the courtyard kept tidy. We are a small household, sir. My mistress preferred to live quietly, with a few close attendants.'

'Four ageing slaves and you,' Marcus Brucetus corrected, 'My adopted mother's female scribe.' He shook his head, tossing the broom casually from hand to hand. 'Valeria never liked a man to tell her anything, and she always did pick the unusual over the conventional.'

Ignoring his amusement at her expense, Flavia fought down panic. Surely this Roman would not be so cruel as to sell the older servants? Surely he would not separate Gaius from his Agrippina, or Sulinus from Livia? She swallowed the rising knot in her throat. 'We are all loyal, sir, and we know what the house needs to run smoothly.'

'Indeed.' Looking into Flavia's bright gray eyes, he smiled and gave the broom back to her. 'Be at peace. I don't throw servants out into the streets to starve:loyalty cuts both ways. When you know me, you will see this.'

'Sir?' Flavia felt confused by this unexpected candor. She knew that she, more than any of the household, should be wary of Marcus Brucetus but she could also still feel the warmth of his hand on the broom handle. Over the crackle of the brazier fire, she could hear his steady breathing. 'Thank you,' she murmured, and turned to go.

'Wait,' he commanded. 'I have some questions. Now the official mourning period is over, it is time.'

Flavia's heart began to race but she did not think she had betrayed herself until Marcus Brucetus said firmly, 'Don't stand there shivering. Warm yourself by the brazier. That is why it is out here, so we can talk in private.'

Bookstrand Publishers: www.bookstrand.com

ISBN for e-book (available late 2008) 1-60601-082-4

ISBN for print book (to follow) 1-60601-083-2

Lindsay's current novel, A Knight's Vow is published by Kensington Books and is now available.

Click here to buy A Knight's Vow (U.S.A.)

Click here to buy A Knight's Vow (U.K.)

Click here to read Lindsay's blog.

E-mail Lindsay Townsend on lindsaytownsend@yahoo.co.uk.