A Stray Drop of Blood (68 page)

Andrew’s brows pulled together. “He hurt her?”

Titus nodded shortly, his jaw clenched. “We had bought her a eunuch for protection, but she had sent him away for a few moments, before I arrived home one day. We stopped him quickly, but not before he could bruise her. It was two weeks ago. She has not been without at least two able-bodied men for protection since, I promise you.”

Andrew smiled in spite of the serious situation. “Knowing her as I do, that has been absolute torment. Abigail is an independent creature.”

Titus chuckled. “So I have learned. Please,” he then said, indicating the furniture. “Sit, be comfortable. I will go inform Abigail of your arrival. I trust Ester is near?”

Andrew nodded. “She was tired from the journey, so Drusus and Simon and Dinah took her to an inn and sent me to ascertain whether or not Abigail was still here. I am glad we did not miss her yet again.”

Titus smiled and nodded. “Thankfully, Drusus’s prompt missive arrived a week or so before she was planning to sail home. I will be right back.”

~*~

Titus felt determination possess his face. He was truly glad Ester had arrived; it would please Abigail. But at the same time, it brought to the fore a few topics that must be settled immediately. Titus had planned on waiting until he got back from his short trip two days from now to broach the subject, but he would have to revise that plan. He headed toward Abigail’s chamber with a purposeful stride.

He stopped in the hall, however, and made a quick detour to his own room before returning to knock, then enter hers. He smiled to see Abigail reading from the Scriptures to Samuel and the others, translating it into Greek as she went. She paused when he came in and smiled up at him.

“
I thought you were going to the Forum.”

Titus smiled. “I met with a detour. I must speak with you, Abigail.”

Curious, Abigail set the holy writings aside and stood up. Could she see his nerves? Hopefully not. She smiled and stepped close enough to rest her hand on his forearm. “What is it?”

Titus darted a glance at the others–Phillip, Panther, Miriam, Antonia, and the children were all here. He would have preferred having this conversation in private, but he did not want to take the time to debate with them on the wisdom of sending them away. It would seem that his servants had all become rather emboldened under Abigail’s influence. He focused his gaze on her. It was not too hard to do. She seemed to him now more beautiful than she had ever been, and he no longer knew if it was an actual improvement in her physical traits or the reflection of his love for her.

He linked their fingers together. “The villa will be ready for you when I return.”

Abigail nodded. “You have already told me as much.”

“
Yes, I know,” he said with a grin. “That is not what I want to discuss, exactly. But my love, your mother will be with you again soon. I must know what you plan to do when she arrives.”

Abigail sighed. “I know not, my friend. I certainly recognize that you have put forth much energy and money to people the villa, and I know much of it has come from your own funds, even though I asked you to use ours. I would hate to have made you do all that only to leave soon. Not to mention that I would miss you terribly. But at the same time, I must recognize that my presence in Rome will only make it harder for you to go on with your life.”

Titus lifted her hand and pressed his lips to her knuckles. “You are my life.” His soft, fervent words elicited a frown from Abigail’s brows. “Abigail, I know you will argue about the wisdom of my desires, but it will not change them. I want to marry you.”

“
You cannot.” She looked frustrated when he moved their fingers to still her lips.

“
I can. I know I have done nothing but deny the very possibility since you came here, but I was wrong. I do not care about a political career, I never really have, and my reacquaintance with that arena has strengthened that. I want to run my businesses, and I can do that quite well with you as my wife.”

“
But your father–”

“
Will disapprove, but he will deal with it. I already spoke to him. He will not disinherit me, though he says he will not recognize you as my wife.” He leaned down to kiss her softly. “I do not care for his opinion, my love. All that matters is that I will still have the means to provide you a good life, and it is the only life that will make either of us happy. My mother has granted her consent. Marry me, dear one.”

He raised his other hand, in which he held the amethyst necklace he had given her what seemed like so long ago. He had all but forgotten that it was in his room, but now he slipped it back over her head.

Abigail’s lips trembled, her eyes wide in stupefaction. Samuel bounced up and down, Antonia hushed him. Her gaze stayed locked on his. “Titus. This is a monumental decision. We need to talk about it, to pray about it, to think it through fully.”

He gave her a bright smile. “I have been praying about it without ceasing, and I have received my answer in many different ways.”

“
But . . .” She changed her words into Latin and made them quiet enough for only his ears to hear. “Titus, what if I was damaged by the miscarriage? What if I can have no more children? You need heirs.”

In the same tongue, he replied, “And I will have them. I plan to adopt Samuel. Even if the Lord chooses not to bless us with more babes, my line will continue.”

She drew in a sharp breath. “Still,” she fumbled, once more in Greek, looking down at the jewel around her neck. “I need to think about this. I will answer you when you return.”

Titus laughed, drawing her gaze back up to his. “I cannot wait that long, beloved. I must have your answer now, this very minute.”

She narrowed her eyes at him. “And why is that?”

“
Because Andrew is downstairs.” He stated it calmly, his smile still in place.

Abigail’s eyes went wide again, and after a brief moment of absolute stillness, she made a lunge for the door.

Titus caught her by the hand to stop her, laughing again. “Not so fast, small one. I will not have you reuniting with your family until I am sure you will let me become a member of it. So very quickly, I will finish all I wanted to say. I have already made arrangements for us to live at the Visibullis villa, but off of the money I bring in, so that Benjamin’s estates will remain intact. I would like nothing better than for Ester to stay with us. My mother may wish to join us too, since Father would probably make her life miserable when it became clear she supported our union. But you would be the mistress of the estate, my love. Of that there will be no question.”

Abigail stared at him as if he were bereft of his sanity. “Are you quite serious about this? Have you truly thought out all the consequences of such a decision?”

“
Fully.” His voice was soft, gentle, sure. He met her gaze. “I love you, Abigail. In my heart, you are my wife. How could I ever marry another? The Lord brought us together for a reason, and I want nothing more than to praise him with you every day for the rest of my life. I want to teach him to our children with you, to spread his word to the empire with you. Abigail, if you cannot live here, in Rome, then I will go back to Israel with you.” He cupped her face in his palm, and in careful Hebrew he promised, “‘Wherever you go, I will go; and wherever you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God my God. Where you die, I will die, and there will I be buried. The Lord do so to me, and more also, if anything but death parts you and me.’”

Tears filled Abigail’s eyes. “That is what
I
am to say to
you.
” With a watery laugh, she covered his hands with hers and stretched up to kiss him. “I can think of no greater honor, Titus, than being your wife. The Lord has blessed me in giving me you. As soon as the arrangements can be made, I will marry you.”

Titus was quite certain his joy was radiating from him as he leaned down to kiss her deeply, even as a cheer went up from their audience. He pulled his lips away only when Samuel launched himself at them, jarring the embrace to a halt with his happy cries. Titus laughed and pulled him the rest of the way into his arms. To his betrothed he said, “Go, greet Andrew. He told me the others are at an inn nearby. Miriam and I will bring the children down in a few minutes.”

He nodded to Phillip to tell him to follow her as she dashed out the door. Phillip grinned back at him.

~*~

Abigail wasted no time. She flew through the house, suddenly feeling better than she had in months. Her family was here, and she was going to marry Titus. Heaven smiled on her today. Of course, it would probably take a long conversation to convince her family of the wisdom of marrying Titus, but she felt ready to face that challenge. She was even ready to face the uncertainty of Andrew’s emotions on the matter.

She guessed correctly which room he would be waiting in; she could see him standing and looking around without approval as she sped along. She smiled. “Andrew!”

Andrew turned with a huge smile. When she barrelled his way, he caught her up in his arms and spun her around. “Abigail!” He laughed, setting her back on her feet. He held her at arm’s length with hands on her shoulders. “Look at you. You are more beautiful than ever, which has no doubt been tormenting the poor men of Rome.”

Abigail laughed. “Perhaps.”

“
And you have no doubt eclipsed all the Roman women when you put on their styles.” He grin as he glanced at her stola and intricate hair.

“
Oh, absolutely.” She gave him another hug. “Oh, Andrew, I have missed you all so much. Tell me, how is she? Better? I trust you would not have made the journey otherwise.”

“
Mistress is quite well. She still misses them, and she has been worried senseless about you, but she has been improving every day, eager to meet her grandchild.” His smile was bright, unreserved, which eased some of the concern in Abigail’s heart. “And from the impression I received from Titus, you will be happy to hear that after hearing a sermon of Simon Peter, the entire household has embraced the salvation offered by Jesus.”

Her heart brimmed, overflowed. “That is wonderful. We have been praying.”

Andrew nodded, sobering. He held her gaze firmly. “Much has changed, has it not? We have been living different lives these months. I must confess I was worried when I heard you were coming here with Titus, and I disapproved of Drusus asking you to remain in his house until we arrived. But the man who greeted me moments ago was not the man I remembered. How did this happen, Abigail?”

She smiled. “We were both at the crucifixion of our Lord, Andrew. The mob pulled me along with it, and he was in charge. We were both so moved by what we saw, by the sheer righteousness the Christ portrayed–and then, as the earthquake began, so did my labor. Titus took me home, stayed with me after getting a midwife. She taught us the words of Jesus, and we believed together. When Benjamin was born, I went to stay with Tabitha, the midwife. When Titus received the word from Arminius, he volunteered to bring me here.” She shrugged. “We have grown together, learned together. We received the Holy Spirit together.”

“
Then he has truly changed,” Andrew said with relief.

“
He is even quoting Hebrew scripture.”

He arched a brow. “A quicker study than I at Latin, then. What has he been reciting?”

She held his gaze steadily, somberly, and spoke the same passage Titus had spoken to her only minutes before. Seeing the question that grew in Andrew’s eyes, she sighed at her halt. “Andrew, I am going to marry him.”

He regarded her a moment without any reaction. He searched her eyes. “You love him?”

She nodded, the emotion filling her heart at the thought of him. Andrew smiled. “Then I wish you my congratulations, my friend. You deserve that.”

Her relief coupled with disbelief. “You are not upset?”

He laughed softly. “If I had learned of this a couple months ago, I would have been fit to kill him. But as I cleansed my heart before Jehovah, I saw what I had been denying for too long. I have always and will always love you, Abigail, but I am not the husband the Lord intended for you. I chose servitude, but you have the heart of a queen.”

“
You are my friend.”

He smiled into her assurance. “Yes. And I will always be your friend. I will also always be your servant. Speaking of which,” he said, nodding toward Phillip, who was standing unobtrusively inside the door, “are you not going to introduce me, Abigail?”

Abigail smiled and turned to beckon Phillip forward. “Of course. Phillip, this is Andrew, about whom I have told you. Andrew, this is Phillip. I was forced to buy someone to protect me when I thought I would be returning to Israel on my own, and Phillip has been beside me ever since. He is a true friend.”

Andrew and Phillip both smiled and clasped wrists, assessing one another and nodding.

“
And it sounds as though the others are coming, too.” She heard Samuel’s buoyant voice, followed a moment later by Titus in the doorway, boy perched on his shoulders. Miriam, holding Benjamin, followed, Panther bringing up the rear.

“
You remember Titus and Samuel, of course,” Abigail said as Titus put down the boy so he could run to go give the man a proper greeting. With his usual energy, Samuel threw himself into Andrew’s waiting arms. “And this,” Abigail continued, drawing Andrew’s gaze back up, “is Miriam, my handmaiden. She is from Hebron. And the angel in her arms is Benjamin.”