Chapter 24
Afew days later, Felix arrived at his half-sister’s farming estate in central Italy. Fields of barley, millet, and other crops stretched over the rolling hills, with fruit trees planted in neat rows near the villa and outbuildings.
He dismounted from his horse and wiped sweat from his brow. Since moving to the coast, he always forgot how much hotter it felt inland, even on a relatively mild day. In Ostia, the cooling sea breeze was a constant presence.
He gave his horse to a stablehand, then entered the villa while another servant ran off to announce his presence.
His sister’s husband, Fulvius, received him a few moments later. Fulvius, around Felix’s age, was easy-going and good-humored, and today he appeared to be practically buoyant as Felix congratulated him on his new daughter. Fulvius showed him to the sunny garden at the back of the house where Herminia sat with the baby.
“Lucius!” Herminia looked as if she was about to jump to her feet before remembering the squirming baby in her arms. She had their mother’s delicate features and dark golden hair, pairedwith Maximus’s lively brown eyes. “Oh, I wasn’t sure you would come!”
She held out an arm to him, and he accepted the half-embrace, pressing a quick kiss to her forehead. “It’s not every day one gains a niece,” he said. “Congratulations.” He surveyed the infant. “She looks very, er…” His brain flicked through several possible adjectives, trying to determine the most fitting compliment for a baby. “Healthy?”
“You should hear her cry.” Herminia smiled indulgently down at the baby. “The midwife said she had the strongest lungs she’d ever heard!”
“How…nice.”
“Do you want to hold her?” Herminia proffered the baby, which gazed at Felix with blue eyes that somehow managed to seem doubtful.
Felix had never held a baby before, and he had a feeling that if he did, she would soon demonstrate those healthy lungs. “Perhaps later.”
Herminia returned the baby to her shoulder. “I need to feed her soon. Mother and Father were just taking a stroll through the orchard. You should go find them. They’ll be so pleased to see you!”
“I’ll do that.” He nodded to her and the baby, then proceeded out the back of the garden toward the orchards.
He walked along the neat rows of plum and peach trees. The fruit was in season at this time of summer, but most of these trees appeared to have already been harvested. Felix managed to find one plum that hadn’t yet been plucked, and stretched his arm up into the branches to grab it.
He didn’t bite into it, but tossed it in his hand as he walked. Marcus was especially fond of plums—not that there seemed to be any food he disliked—so Felix would bring the fruit back toOstia as a present for the boy, and an apology for being away so long.
He took a deep breath of the fresh country air. It was like a different world out here, a peaceful haven compared to bustling, crowded Ostia. But Ostia had an energy, a vibrancy that he couldn’t stay away from for long.
It also had Lucretia and Marcus. Somehow he already missed them both.
Ahead, he heard the sound of footsteps brushing over grass and the murmur of quiet conversation—his mother’s light voice mixed with his stepfather’s deeper tones.
A booming laugh broke out, scattering a flock of birds from a nearby tree. Yes, that was definitely his stepfather: loud and uncouth as always.
His parents came into view on the path ahead of him, their backs to him. His stepfather’s arm was wrapped around his mother’s waist, and she laid her head on his shoulder as they walked.
Felix cleared his throat. His mother, Volusia, stopped short and turned around. Her eyes widened when she saw him. “Oh, Lucius! You came!”
She crossed the short distance to him and enfolded him in a tight yet decorous hug.
“Why is everyone so surprised that I’m here?” he asked as he withdrew from the embrace.
“Because you might as well live in India for how often you visit!” Maximus, his stepfather, gave Felix a good-natured punch on the arm that sent Felix stumbling into the trunk of a peach tree.
“Ouch,” Felix muttered, rubbing his arm. “Well, I was actually planning an earlier visit. There was a business associate in this region whom I was going to meet. But plans changed.”In thatI decided not to pursue my campaign against Lucretia by persuading her guardian to drop his support.
“Oh? Who was that?” Mother looped her arm through his as they ambled down the row of trees. “I wonder if we know him.”
“It was a man named Manilius Cotta.”
Mother frowned. “If I’m not mistaken, I believe that man is dead.”
Felix drew to an abrupt halt. “Dead? It must have been very recent.”Does Lucretia know? She must not.
Maximus shook his head. “At least five years ago. He left no heirs, so his estate was sold to another family.”
