“Yes, I’ve changed,” Horatia interjected. “Those visits were a novelty. A distraction. Now, I’m a wife and a mother. I have to worry about my own children and their future. Not some vagrant whose parents can’t be bothered to provide for him. And I can see that marriage has changed you as well. I can’t imagine you’d pursue something so obviously unsuitable without the influence of your freedman husband.”
Crispina narrowed her eyes. “Is that why you haven’t once invited me and Aelius to dine with you since we’ve been married? Or visited me at home?”
Horatia blinked. “I see you all the time.”
“But you’ve never met Aelius. You’ve never stepped foot in our house.” She hadn’t allowed herself to acknowledge how impolite Horatia had been until now, but the realization crashed over her in a disquieting wave. “You think he’s beneath you.”
Horatia’s face flushed. “Is that such a surprise? He’s afreedman, Crispina.”
“He is my husband.” Crispina surged to her feet. “Am I beneath you too?”
“Of course not!” Horatia protested. “You’re, well…one of us.”
One of us. All her life, Crispina had been raised to believe that family, ancestry determined everything. It put power at the fingertips of a select few, and everyone else was supposed to be content with their lot. Her lessons had challenged those beliefs in a small way, yes, but Aelius was the one who had truly shattered all of her illusions.
“If you don’t want him,” Crispina said, “then you can’t have me either. We are bound together.”
“Bound together?” Horatia let out a disbelieving laugh. “You never talked this way when you were married to Memmius. Don’t tell me you’re actually falling for a freedman.”
“What if I am?” Crispina shot back. The words came out before she could think them through. Their meaning hit her with a rush of dizziness.
Somehow, inexplicably, she was falling in love with her husband.
“You know he’s going to divorce you,” Horatia said. “I thought that was always the plan.”
Crispina cleared her throat.It is. “We have nothing left to discuss.” Without another word, she left the room and strode through the house until she reached the front door. A slave opened it for her and stood aside.
She paused before the open door, wondering if Horatia would run after her and apologize. But the house was silent, so she nodded to the slave and left.
She took the long way home, hoping the walk would boil off some of her anger. It didn’t. When she arrived home, she went straight to the library and slammed the door behind her. She could hear Max and Gaia laughing somewhere in the house, but she didn’t want to see them, didn’t want to have to explain why she was angry. Max might not understand, but it would hurt Gaia to know that Crispina’s friend didn’t think Aelius was good enough to associate with.
Crispina paced the small library in a tight circle. She wished there was something in here she could throw, smash. She eyed a tempting inkwell, but that would only make a mess.
She had never argued with Horatia before, not like this. Her friend could often be snobbish and haughty, but it had never bothered Crispina so much.
You just took the side of a man you’ve known for mere months over the best friend you’ve grown up with.But somehow, Aelius had slipped into her heart without her notice. His side was the one she wanted to be on, no matter the cost.
A knock came at the door to the library. “Crispina?”
Aelius. She frowned. She hadn’t expected to see him until evening. “Yes?”
“Are you hungry? I decided to come back for lunch. Thought you could use the company.”
She felt a flare of appreciation beneath her anger. Aelius rarely returned home for lunch, and he must be doing it now because of Max. “Thank you. I’ll be out in a few minutes.”
He paused. “Can I come in?”
She didn’t want him to know about her argument with Horatia, but if she refused to see him, he would know something was wrong anyway. She sighed. “Yes.”
He opened the door, entered, and closed it behind him. “You look upset.”
Her lips tightened. He’d gotten to know her too well.Might as well come out with it.“I went to see Horatia to tell her about Max. She doesn’t want him to associate with her son.”
His eyes darkened. “On what grounds?”
“Apparently her son needs friends of a higher caliber. Max will be a bad influence.” Bitterness tainted her words. “I think I may not see her again. She said certain things that will be hard to forgive.”About you both.
Aelius nodded slowly. “I’m sorry. I know you’re close.”
