He is?“He’s made it very clear his interest in me extends only as far as the influence that my father can provide.”
“Yes, I’m sure that’s what he thinks. But I know my son, and if you marry him, he will do what he can to make you happy. And if he doesn’t, he’ll have me to answer to.”
“Do you support this scheme of his, then?”
They moved away from the potential library and around the other side of the atrium. Gaia was in front, so Crispina couldn’t see her face. “He believes he needs political success to be happy, and he believes you are the key to that. Of course I want my son to achieve everything he wants.”
“With respect, I don’t think you answered my question.”
Gaia paused and turned to face Crispina. She lifted her gaze to meet Crispina’s. “I will be honest with you, as that is what you deserve if we’re to be family. I think marrying for political gain is foolish and short-sighted, and I worry this arrangement will make both of you miserable. Even if it’s temporary.”
“Oh.” Crispina couldn’t think of anything to reply. She was used to being the one who threw people off-kilter with her forthrightness, and it was disconcerting to be on the other side of that.
“That doesn’t mean I won’t embrace you as my daughter-in-law if you marry Aelius,” Gaia said. “My son is everything to me, and if you become his wife, I will love you as if you were my own daughter.”
“Oh,” Crispina said again, rendered wordless once more. She had never heard anything close to a promise of love from her former mother-in-law. Hardly even from her own mother, in fact.
“Now, there is just one more room you should see.” Gaia beckoned Crispina to follow, and led her into a large bedroom. “This is Aelius’s room. I expect you’ll want to redecorate in here as well?” Her voice held a joking lilt.
Crispina glanced around the room. It was neat and tidy, with few personal effects visible. Her gaze landed on the big bed, and her cheeks heated. That was the bed she’d share with her husband…if she agreed to this.
But there was no reason for blushing. Aelius already knew she was barren, so they could have no reason for any sort of activities that would make her blush.
A moment later, the cause of her blushes poked his head around the half-open door. Crispina tensed, feeling as if she’d been caught somewhere she shouldn’t be.
He nodded to her and kissed his mother on the cheek. “I see a tour is in progress. Are you finding the house to your satisfaction?”
“It’s smaller than what I’m used to, but I imagine the reduced size makes the household easier to manage.” The comment came out sounding more cutting than she intended. She winced, glancing at Gaia to see if she’d offended.
“Crispina has already suggested many improvements,” Gaia said smoothly. “Our house shall be the most fashionable on the block by the time she’s done.” Then she moved toward the door. “Let me ask the kitchen to prepare some refreshments for us.” She disappeared, leaving Crispina and Aelius alone.
Alone in a bedroom with a man she barely knew. Her mother would choke if she ever found out about this. The thought made her feel strangely brave.
“Your mother is quite lovely,” she admitted.
Aelius smiled with only a trace of smugness. “I told you.”
“I do have a question. I’m sure it’s inappropriate.”
His eyebrow quirked. “I relish inappropriate questions.”
The heat returned to her cheeks. “Not like that. No, it was about the household.” She hesitated. “Isn’t it odd for you to own slaves?”
He leaned against the wall next to the door. “Sometimes. But it’s better for them to work for me than someone else, and I’ve committed to freeing them after ten years of service. We keep their number to a minimum. There’s Ajax, who minds the door, Malchio, Hector the cook, Cassandra who helps in the kitchen…” He rattled off a few more names.
Crispina doubted her father or Memmius knew the names of more than two or three of their slaves. “You’re missing a Paris.”
He looked at her blankly. “Excuse me?”
“The Trojan brother of Hector and Cassandra?”
“Ah, right. Forgive me, I don’t read Greek. Well, I learned the alphabet, but I never mastered the tongue.”
“You mean you’ve never read Homer? Or Sappho? Or…” She had never met an adult man of even the meanest social standing who didn’t know Greek. Before meeting Aelius, she would have assumed anyone illiterate in Greek was ignorant and backward, but there was no way she could assign that judgment to Aelius. Maybe he wasn’t the most learned man in the city, but she couldn’t deny her respect for his ambition, especially considering the near insurmountable obstacle of his birth.
“None of it.” He did not look as embarrassed as she thought he should. “So, now that you have been assured that my mother is not a bloodthirsty harpy, may I speak to your father?”
Crispina allowed her gaze to wander over him. Was she ready for this man to become her husband? Even marriage to an unpleasant husband could not be worse than her life now, trapped in limbo between being a maiden and a wife, an empty, lonely future stretching before her.
