“I splashed him,” Crispina admitted. “In the atrium pool.”
Horatia covered her mouth amid a peal of laughter. “I wish I could have seen that!”
“But he sent an apology today and asked me to hear him out.”
“Interesting. What’s he like?”
Crispina shrugged. “I don’t really know. He was there with Catullus, the poet. He’s not bad-looking.” An understatement, but Horatia didn’t need to know that. “He’s young. Younger than Memmius, at least.” Aelius looked to be in his early thirties, so he was still more than a decade older than her, but her former husband had been in his forties when they wed. “There must be something wrong with him if he wants to marry me.”
“Hear him out,” Horatia suggested. “Marriage isn’t perfect, but at least you won’t be trapped in your parents’ house for years on end.”
“Indeed.” An idea struck her. No doubt Catullus knew what Aelius was about with his marriage scheme. The poet lived close by, so she could pay him a visit on her way back from Horatia’s. She wanted to gather as much information as possible before deciding whether to reply to Aelius’s letter.
Light footsteps pattered into the room. Horatia’s five-year-old son, Paullus, trotted in. He tried to climb up onto the couch with Horatia, but she gently spun him around toward Crispina. “Go sit with Crispina, dear. Mother is simply too big right now.”
Without hesitation, the boy climbed up into Crispina’s lap. She patted his head. “Hello, Paullus.” He could be a terror, but when he was in a gentle mood, his sweetness never failed to tug at her heart.
A moment later, Horatia’s husband, Decius, entered the room, looking frazzled. “Paullus, don’t disturb your mother. She’s in a very delicate state!” His gaze landed on the boy, securely nestled in Crispina’s lap. “Oh, hello, Crispina.”
Crispina smiled. “Hello, Decius. Congratulations on your imminent new arrival. Are you praying for another boy?”
“I wouldn’t mind a girl, to be honest,” Decius said. He crossed to Horatia’s couch and glanced anxiously down at her. “How are you feeling, my darling? Are you hungry? Shall I call for some lunch?”
“Thank you, my dear, but I’m quite all right. Crispina is looking after us.”
He bent to kiss her forehead. “All right.” He nodded to Crispina. “Good day, Crispina. Give my regards to your hus—I mean, your parents.” Flushing, he left the room.
Horatia’s mouth twisted into a rueful smile. “Sometimes he speaks before he thinks.”
“It’s all right.” Crispina gazed at the doorway where Decius had vanished. A surge of jealousy rose in her chest, but she was well-practiced at tamping it down.
Horatia turned the subject to the latest trend in wall paintings, and the rest of the visit passed pleasantly. Paullus fell asleep in her lap like a kitten. When it came time to leave, she gently shifted the boy onto the couch with his mother. She whispered a goodbye to Horatia, then left.
Outside, her litter carriers were waiting for her. “To home, lady?” one of them asked as he helped her into the litter.
“Not yet. Take me to the home of Gaius Valerius Catullus. I believe it’s two streets south of here.” They’d met often enough at parties to claim a basic acquaintance, so it was not completely improper for her to visit him unannounced. The litter bearers would no doubt tell her parents she visited the poet, but she’d keep the visit short enough to avoid scandal and could claim an interest in his poetry.
A few minutes later, she entered Catullus’s home. She lingered in the atrium for a moment while one of his slaves went to fetch him.
The lanky poet emerged from a room off the atrium, presumably his study, and bowed to her. Ink stained his fingertips, and his hair was rumpled. He eyed her with curiosity. “Good afternoon, Crispina. I hope I wasn’t expecting you?”
“No, I apologize for the interruption. I was in the area and thought I would drop in. I had a few questions for you.”
His eyes narrowed. “Haven’t come to quiz me on my Sappho, have you?”
“You’re still miffed about that?”
“Only a little. But please, tell me what I can do for you today.”
“It’s about your friend, Aelius Herminius.”
His eyebrows lifted. “I gathered the two of you did not have the smoothest introduction the other night.”
“So you know he tried to propose.”
Catullus nodded. “And made an ass of himself. Will you give him a second chance as he’s requested?”
“You know about the apology letter too?”
