wherever he went , his concern was to prevent the sons of ancus marcius from finding a refuge ; sometimes he 'd put out the message that support for them was an act hostile to rome , which could have consequences ; sometimes he 'd spread another story , about robur 's temper , his rape of an etruscan girl the truth of that was unproven , and manius would admit as much , and sigh , and then someone could always be depended on to say 'there 's no smoke without fire , ' and so , in the end , it never really mattered whether it was true or not .