A Stray Drop of Blood (51 page)

Phillip nodded again but had to ask, “But does Mistress not have a handmaiden? I am able to protect you, but not to see to your personal needs.”

Abigail’s smile turned wry. “Mistress has been a handmaiden too long to know what to do with one for herself, my friend.”

“
But Phillip has a point, Abigail,” Titus said from behind the couch on which she had sat. “If you truly want to make the journey in safety, you must project the image of an affluent woman to whom an affront would mean trouble. The more servants you travel with, the safer you will be.”

Abigail sighed and looked at him over her shoulder. “Titus, I had
no
attendants on the way over, and in spite of your multitude of warnings, I met with no problems. I grant that I cannot travel alone, but Phillip certainly strikes me as perfectly capable of protecting me without the help of a girl who can only braid hair and bathe my feet.”

“
On the way over you were with me, on a ship that I owned, with men who were all either under my employ or owned by my family. If they had touched you, their lives would have been forfeit, and they all knew it. But you will not be sailing back on one of my ships, and I will not be there to strike fear into the sailors. Phillip may certainly intimidate, but they would fear only immediate pain, not the far-reaching kind. Make them think you are important, and you will command respect, as well.”

Abigail rolled her eyes. “But I am
not
important, and there would
be
no far-reaching effects!”

“
Oh yes there would.” The severity of Titus’s assertion raised him a notch in Phillip’s esteem. “If a hair on your head is harmed, I will personally see that the perpetrator is aptly punished. And as a wise woman said to me recently, a lie meant to save is not a crime, anyway. Letting a ship full of people think you of a higher status than you think yourself is certainly no worse than letting my father think you significantly worse than you are.”

Abigail sighed again and answered Phillip’s curious gaze. “We had to tell Titus’s father I was his lover in order to protect me from Caius himself,” she told him almost wearily. “It is not true, but it serves the purpose, and you will have to be aware of it, at any rate.”

Phillip nodded his assent, wondering as he did so how Titus, whose reputation he well knew, managed to have her under his roof
without
making it true. His respect for both of them grew, and he found himself grateful that these two had been the first to speak with his master about his purchase. If he was going to be sold, he could not imagine a more perfect woman to be in service to.

“
Well.” Abigail stood up so she could take the baby back into her arms when he began to fuss. “Phillip, I will not ask you to stay in here while we negotiate the price. I do not want you to feel insulted when I negotiate your master ridiculously low.” She delivered this last part with a grin that had one tempting his lips as well. “If you could kindly go outside and try to look defensive when your master sees you?”

The grin tugged a little more, and Phillip had no problem in giving her allegiance even now, before the sale. He would just as soon let her pay less for him than he was worth so that she would have more money in the future. “I will make him think I have shamed him, so that he is eager to be rid of me, no matter the price.”

Abigail laughed, softly enough that his master would not hear, but warmly enough for it to reach into his heart. “Go, my friend. And Titus, look displeased.”

Titus already did. “I can negotiate this for you, Abigail.”

She waved that away. “I have been haggling for years. I may never have bought a person before, but no one ever paid less for oranges than I, and I practically stole the purple Mistress sent me after.”

Phillip buried his mirth and left the room.

~*~

Titus watched Abigail’s face change as Phillip left the room. By the time Otho returned, looking wary and apologetic, his friend had pulled a mask of contempt over her serene features.

“
He is arrogant and stupid,” Abigail proclaimed. “How can you even have the audacity to proclaim him a worthy slave?”

Otho pressed his lips together. “He has served my daughter well all these years.”

“
Yes, and now he will not serve another with loyalty. I tried to be kind, and he made it clear I was inferior to your daughter.” She made a face, as if trying to control her temper, and sighed. “I will be honest. I am leaving in but a few days, and I need the protection. I imagine your man will at least fend off the thieves and rapists for me, but I do not look at this as a long-term investment. I will sell him again the moment we land in Israel and I have my own loyal slaves surrounding me once more. But I can promise you now that the insolence that
creature
showed me will gain you no higher price than what I am willing to offer in my desperation.”

She named a figure so low Otho had no choice but to be insulted. “He is worth four times that!”

Abigail did not so much as waver. “He is worth a fourth that.”

Titus stifled the urge to laugh and instead reverted to his well-known scowl. “Do not even spend that much of your son’s inheritance on such a man.”

“
What choice do I have?” She managed to put frustration into her gaze

“
I heard just this morning that Marius Tansitus is selling a eunuch. Let us go and see him, he can surely not be any worse.”

Abigail sighed, looking weary now. “You would drag me all around Rome on this mission, with no concern for the babe or me. If you want to look elsewhere on my behalf, Titus, go ahead, but I would rather return home and sleep.”

“
Very well then.” Titus held out a hand as if to help her rise. “Let us return home, and
I
will see that you do not waste Jason’s son’s money.”

Otho held up a hand. “Wait. I will cut my price in half.”

“
That is still twice as much as I am willing to pay.” As if in on the scheme, Benjamin began to fuss. Abigail sighed. “I will raise my offer by a fourth.”

“
Abigail!” Titus let his hand fall to his side. “You will not!”

“
I accept.” Their host all but tripped over his words.

“
Give him the money, Titus. And have that wretch get his things and follow us home. I will be waiting in the chaise.”

Titus made a point of sending her an irritated look as she strode for the door, but he obediently doled out the sum–so low he almost ruined their act and chuckled in delight. “You have gotten lucky today, Otho. In the future, you should advise your slaves that if they speak to buyers as he did, they will meet your lash before they can leave your house.”

“
He has never been anything but respectful.” Otho appeared almost pained.

Titus almost felt pity for the man. Though it was his own fault for being so easily swayed. He shrugged.

Otho shook his head in defeat and began to move toward the door. “I will go supervise his packing, make sure he takes only what is his.”

Knowing Panther was watching over Abigail outside, Titus said, “I will join you, to make sure he takes nothing Abigail will not need him to have.” And to make sure Otho did not belatedly take his advice and give Phillip a parting whipping.

~*~

Titus tried to ignore the strange sensation that settled over him when he finally got an affirmative answer. He’d been asking the question every day for the past week, ever since Arminius had given the word that the estate would be settled without need of Abigail’s remaining in Rome.

“
Just arrived an hour ago,” the man said, his accent crude to match his face. “Sails for Joppa again in four days, Lord.”

“
Thank you.” Titus nodded and turned away, wondering why the news made his spirits plummet. Of course, he would miss Abigail. She had become his friend, his teacher. They had spent the last evenings together, praying and discussing the Law, and Titus had never felt such a peace in his soul as he had in those moments. And he would miss the babe, and Samuel. But that was surely not enough to cause this tightness in his chest.

“
It is about time,” Caius said from beside him as they walked back to the house. “I swear to Jove, that girl is a curse, and if she stays in our house much longer, we will feel it.”

Titus rolled his eyes. His father was not one to prattle on about the gods, so he was not fooled for a moment. “Which is to say, she distracts you terribly, and since you cannot have her in your bed, you want her out from under your roof.”

Caius sent him a withering gaze. “I am a man, Titus, and if you are really as close to her as you say, surely you would understand her charms.”

An alarum sounded in Titus’s mind, echoing in his ears. “Why do you say ‘if,’ Father?” He tried to keep his tone casually belligerent, as it would usually be if someone insinuated he had not been able to conquer his latest prey.

Caius’s shrug was entirely too calculated to be meaningless. “It is a strange sort of intimacy I see between you. Not what you usually share with your lovers.”

“
Abigail is not my typical lover.” He kept his tone cool. “Her emotions are more fragile after her loss, and as you yourself taught me, one must indulge the heart if one wants to keep the body.”

“
I just wonder who is controlling whom. I see you tending her emotions, but I never see her tending your needs. Or do the Jews have a problem with displaying their loyalty in the form of kisses to be seen?”

It seemed a safe excuse. “They do, at that. I never once beheld Jason’s lips on Abigail, though there was proof enough they had been there. I know better than to expect her to share in public what she deems appropriate only in private.”

“
Is it that, Titus? Or is it that she has been hiding behind her mourning and has not let you touch her at all?”

Titus forced himself to remain calm, knowing it was the only way to protect his friend. “I promise you, she has refused me nothing I have asked for.”

“
But have you been too much of a coward to ask for what you want?”

Titus stopped to glare at his father. They were near home now, only a minute away, and Titus did not want to arrive during this conversation. “You sound like an adolescent boy telling his friend he will not believe he has a lover without proof. I thought you well past such immaturity.”

Caius smiled, but there was nothing pleasant in it. “The slave needs to learn her place, Titus, and if you have not shown her that she is nothing but a whore in spite of her son, I will. The babe is my guest. She is not.” That said, he moved forward again with long, quick strides. Titus had no choice but to follow. He walked up to the door, which opened before him. “Timothy, where is Abigail?”

“
Resting in the courtyard.” The slave answered so quickly that Titus wondered if his father had someone watching her at every moment. The thought did little to calm his anxieties.

“
Ah.” Caius nodded, smiled, and turned to his son. “I believe I will go the library for a while, my son. I will see you later.”

Titus narrowed his eyes as his father walked away. The library looked out into the courtyard, which meant in effect that Caius was going to keep an eye on Abigail himself. Which was to say, it was Titus’s opportunity to offer the proof Caius demanded. With a determined gait, Titus headed for the peristylium.

He breathed a little easier when he immediately spotted Phillip standing in the shade with his eyes on Abigail. She had chosen a chaise that was set up for the sole purpose of enjoying the sun’s rays.

Titus walked outside, seeing the platter of food beside Abigail, little enough eaten to tell him it had been recently delivered. He turned to Phillip. “Have you had your meal yet, Phillip?”

The large man greeted him with a brightening of the eye if not a smile and shook his head.

“
Go ahead.”

As the eunuch obediently headed inside, Titus slid over to Abigail, whose sleepy eyes had come open at his voice. She smiled up at him. “I did not expect you back so soon.”

Titus sat beside her on the chaise. “A ship from Israel has arrived. It sails for Joppa in four days.”

“
Oh.” A flicker crossed her face that made a pleased whisper travel up his spine, something glad that she seemed no happier about the impending separation than he. Her smile looked forced. “Good. I am eager to get home.”

Titus reached out and brushed a stray tendril of hair from her brow. “We have not found you a handmaiden yet. We will have to look with more diligence tomorrow.”

She nodded her acquiescence, and Titus drew in a deep breath, saying in a whisper, “My father is determined you will not leave without learning that the Asiniuses think you nothing but a slave. He demanded proof that I have already taught you that, Abigail. He is watching now from the library.”

She did not look that direction, but he felt a shiver run through her. She searched his face, settled her gaze on his eyes. Smiled. “What is your plan to convince him?”

He smiled too, trying to make it look as though they were merely exchanging a teasing conversation. “I must kiss you, dear one.” He followed his words with the action before she had a chance to respond.