A Stray Drop of Blood (58 page)

“
Titus!” Abigail stood when he appeared. She was currently alone with Phillip, though he got a blur of motion in his periphery that he knew to be Samuel. He smiled at the sight of her, and it grew when she rushed up to him and threw her arms around him.

“
She is wonderful.” She pressed a soft kiss to his lips. “Miriam will fit in perfectly, and I am actually glad your father dragged me down to that wretched place.” She kissed him again. “Thank you for not refusing to meet that outlandish price.”

Titus chuckled at her exuberance and did not release her lips so easily when she moved them to his for a third time. It did not occur to him until he heard Cornelius’s voice just behind him that his father and guest might follow him outside.

“
I see the rumors were not exaggerated.” Cornelius smiled as Abigail pulled back, obviously startled. The man sent his eyes over her, and his smile only grew when she blushed. “At least, I assume this is the mother of the Visibullis heir.”

“
This is Abigail Visibullis.” Titus tried to convey support to her through a hand on her shoulder. “Abigail, this is Cornelius Cossus, one of the consuls.”

Cornelius inclined his head to her. “I hope the lady will be joining us this evening.”

“
Father has arranged for a dinner party,” Titus informed her when she looked at him in question.

“
And he would be most pleased if you joined us,” Caius added.

Abigail drew herself up in pride. “I thank you for the invitation–”

“
Splendid!” Cornelius interrupted. “It is settled, then!”

Caius’s eyes glinted with challenge. “And you can have your new maiden serve you. It would be a good test of her abilities, I think.”

Caius and Cornelius turned and headed back inside, obviously expecting their word to be carried out. Abigail leveled an accusing gaze on Titus.

He let out his pent up breath. “It will be well, Abigail. All of the men are bringing their wives, which ensures the propriety of the event.” He squeezed her shoulder gently, then leaned down and pressed his lips to her forehead. “Simply tell Miriam she will assist the maid that usually serves you; it will give her a chance to learn, but she need not be left to founder on her own. Is that acceptable?”

“
Well, I suppose.” She sounded begrudging at best.

“
Thank you.” He kissed her softly, then drew away. “I should go join them before Father plans out the next ten years of my life without me. I will be sure and greet Samuel and Benjamin before Antonia takes them for their dinner.”

~*~

Abigail sighed in frustration. “What has gotten into him? He has never been so eager to join his father and his guests before.”

“
The consul is an important man,” Phillip provided from the shadows. “If Titus has any intention of beginning a career in Rome, he needs to make friends like Cornelius.”

Samuel and Miriam chose that moment to race up to them, Antonia following at a safer, slower pace, obviously glad to have younger legs to keep up with the child. Samuel threw himself at Abigail, and she swung him up into her arms with a laugh.

“
Did I hear Titus?” He gave her neck a giant squeeze.

“
Yes, but he is in with a guest now. We will go in now and get washed up for the meal; he has promised to come say good night before we go. But Antonia will have to put you to bed tonight, my son. Titus needs me at dinner with him.”

Samuel’s face fell. “Must you?”

“
So it seems.” Though internally she asked the same question. Determined to talk with Titus about it when he came to the boys, she pasted a smile on her face and put Samuel on his feet. “Come, you are filthy.”

Samuel rallied enough to chatter all the way inside and made no fuss when Antonia subjected him to a good scrubbing at the wash basin. It gave Abigail a chance to turn to Miriam.

“
It has been suggested that you assist with serving me tonight.” She said it softly, making it clear Miriam could refuse. “You would not be alone, just working beside the girl who is usually there. Her name is Valenia.”

Miriam bowed her head. “I will be honored to serve you tonight, Mistress.”

Abigail’s frowned at the easy acceptance. “Are you certain you will not be too nervous with the crowd? I know I was terrified at my first meal with my mistress, and then again at the first Roman gathering I was asked to serve at.”

Miriam smiled warmly. “I have been serving all of my life, Mistress, I will be fine.”

Abigail sighed and nodded, then changed the subject. “I have no idea what I should wear.” She smiled when she realized she sounded much like Ester always had when about to meet new people. “Come, we will go through what Roman garments I have.”

She opted for full Roman styles, a simple dress but with extravagnt hair and generous jewelry. The result, as she looked in the glass, would have been well worth the time had she actually cared about impressing the guests who would no doubt be staring at her in curiosity, trying to figure out why Jason had forfeited his career for her. By the time she heard Titus’s voice, she was convinced that going downstairs would be an enormous mistake.

He stepped into the room, eyes widening upoing spotting her. “Abigail. How is it that every time I think you have reached the pinnacle of beauty, you manage to surpass it?”

She did not so much as smile at the compliment. “I need to speak with you.”

Titus’s eyes glittered with what looked suspiciously like mirth. When Samuel attached himself to his leg, he mussed the boy’s curls and gave him his attention. “Be a good boy for Antonia tonight and do whatever she tells you. And help her with your brother.”

“
I will,” Samuel said solemnly. “But must Mother go?”

“
She will be in once you are in bed to kiss you. And she will only be in the tablinum, not far.”

That seemed to satisfy the boy. He nodded, gave Titus a fierce hug, and turned to help Antonia calm the baby before he could fuss. Titus turned back to Abigail.

She folded her arms over her chest and pitched her voice law. “I cannot do this, it is absurd to expect it of me. The only Roman parties I have ever been a part of, I have been serving at. To expect me to suddenly be a guest–”

“
Is understandable, given how perfectly I have seen you conduct yourself in many different situations.” He put his hands on her shoulders. “Fair one, Cornelius was a friend of Cleopas’s, and he wishes to speak with you, to share his memories and hear about his later years.”

She relaxed a bit. “But will he be the only one there? I am afraid of being a spectacle, Titus, that everyone only wants to see me to marvel that Jason would have dared marry such a wretch.”

He moved his hands to either side of her face. “You are not a wretch. You are a beautiful, loving, amazing, intelligent woman, and I love you.”

Abigail deflated. “And I love you.”

“
Then do this for me,” Titus pleaded. “If I am truly to make a place for myself here, begin a career, then I need to establish a good relationship with the men that will be out there tonight. If the consul wants to speak with Cleopas’s daughter, then I must try to convince her.”

Abigail sighed. “If it is Cleopas’s daughter he wishes to speak with, I have no problems. If it is the slave that Jason shamed himself with, then I cannot go out. Because the slave is still too much of me, Titus, to try to hide it. And I will not injure my husband’s memory by proving to his critics that he was foolish to marry me.”

“
You will honor Jason.” He pulled her closer and kissed her deeply. When he eased away from her, it was with a smile. “You will be lovelier than any other woman here tonight. You cannot know how proud I am to have you with me. I remember coming to that luncheon of Jason’s, I remember seeing you beside him and feeling the jealousy burn within me.” He grinned. “I remember being the recipient of your biting rhetoric as you debated with us about God and his Son. And now here we are, Abigail, having come full circle. We have both seen that Son, we have both changed so much, and now it is my side you will be at. It will be all the others burning with jealousy.”

Because they would all think her his lover. The thought did not make it past Abigail’s lips, but it still sent a chill down her spine. Much had happened since that day he spoke of; they had indeed changed a lot. But she felt the same nervous anticipation now that she had before Jason’s friends arrived, and for a moment she saw the same cold statue in Titus that she had as he walked into her master’s house. It vanished quickly in the face of the warm man she loved, but even the memory served to make her unsure of her proper place here. Was she really going to the dinner as Jason’s widow, or as Titus’s mistress? Was she going to be received as a free woman, or as just another man’s possession?

“
Go kiss the children,” Titus bade softly, pulling her from her reflections. “And then we shall go out.”

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Abigail entered the tablinum on Titus’s arm, tension wracking her. Already a multitude of people were here, spilling from the large room into both the atrium and the peristylium. She had no idea how the kitchen slaves had managed to pull such a feast off, but trays of food and drink circulated as if the party had been planned a week ago.

Aquilia, who stood beside her husband as if they did not despise one another, was the first to notice them. She smiled, but it did little to cover the gleam in her eyes. “My son. Come, get reacquainted with Marcus Priscus.”

“
Yet another father of an eligible girl,” Titus muttered for Abigail’s ears alone, even as he smiled and led them over to his parents. He reached out to clasp the man’s wrist. “Marcus, it has been several years since I have had the pleasure of talking to you.”

The man’s toga told her he was a senator. “Indeed, although your father has made certain you were never far from our thoughts. How did you like the military?”

“
Let us just say that it has given me a renewed appreciation for civilian life.”

“
Abigail.” Aquilia drew her aside and then propelled her even farther away. “Cornelius has been most eager to speak with you. He grew up with Cleopas, you know.”

“
Yes, Titus mentioned it.” She tried to keep her nerves in check, but it had not occurred to her that she would be separated from Titus.

“
He could be a huge help to Titus.”

“
Yes, he mentioned that as well.”

Her cynicism was apparently not lost on Aquilia; she sent her a sharp look. “I am merely trying to encourage you to be cordial.”

“
Of course.” Abigail said no more, since they had only a few more paces before they were at Cornelius’s side.

He looked up at them in greeting. “Ah, here is the guest from afar. My wife, Claudia.”

Abigail greeted the new woman, noticing that she had the same cool, aging beauty that Aquilia possessed. She also noticed that with only a few adept maneuvers, those two women had managed to separate themselves and head to another part of the room.

Cornelius was still smiling, and Abigail did not know if there was anything less than honorable lurking under his placid face or not. Deciding she should not assume the worst of anyone, she forced herself to relax as he invited her to sit with him.

Cornelius waited for her to settle onto the couch beside him before saying, “It is so lovely to have this opportunity to meet you. I was terribly upset when I heard of Cleopas’s death, and Jason’s too. It has been many years since I saw my old friend, but one does not forget the brightest days of one’s youth.” He laughed lightly. “Not that you are old enough to know that as well as I. But in a few years, my friend, you will understand that truth.”

Abigail smiled and made some agreeing noises.

It was all the encouragement Cornelius needed to continue. “Tell me, how was my old friend these past years? I had heard, of course, that he married a local woman, and naturally I met Jason when he was in Rome, but the details have been few.”

Figuring her family was something she could speak of easily enough, Abigail settled in and relaxed in reminiscence.

~*~

Titus laughed at whatever it was the man beside him had just said, but his eyes moved around the room in search of Abigail. She had sat with Cornelius for almost an hour in conversation, eating little and drinking less. When Cornelius had finally left, Marcus’s wife had moved to the seat beside Abigail and struck up another conversation. He had watched Abigail’s body language to try to divine the nature of the talk, but it was apparently friendly enough, for she had laughed sincerely without tensing. He was glad she was getting on so well, but still, he wanted to maneuver himself to her side as soon as possible.

“
Titus!”

Titus turned with a smile at the familiar voice, unable to help laughing when one of his oldest friends barreled toward him. “Lucius.” He steeled himself for the enthusiastic embrace that Lucius did not withhold. “You are back from Ephesus.”

Lucius looked down at himself as though amazed to see that truth. “So I am. And you from Israel. When we got the news that the Asiniuses were hosting a party tonight, I told father we simply had to come. We are late, I know, but it seems it does not matter.” He looked around at all the people milling about, smiled again. “My sister asks after you.”