by Carol Ashby
Lucius couldn’t have been more surprised, and Sabinus chuckled at his incredulity as he stood momentarily speechless.
“As I told you before, an alliance with my family can be a great advantage.”
Lucius finally found his tongue. “I am honored beyond what I can express.”
He knew Sabinus had influence with the Emperor, but he never expected this.
“I’m sure you are.” Sabinus’s lips curved up in a smug smile. “Now to the real reason for my visit. I have come to see my beautiful future wife. It’s time for her to begin getting to know me.”
“Of course. I’ll have her summoned right away.”
“You can have your slave take me to a suitable place in your garden. A beautiful woman can best be appreciated in a setting of equal beauty.”
Lucius indicated with a wave of his hand that the slave was to escort Sabinus into the garden and then fetch Claudia.
As he watched Sabinus walk out of the library, a satisfied smile overspread Lucius’s face. His earlier concerns about dealing with Sabinus seemed rather foolish now. The master of Roman influence would likely turn out to be a very good brother-in-law.
Claudia had been crying, and her eyes were red and puffy. Graecia had just brought some cool water to wash her face after the latest bout of tears when the door slave came to her room.
“Mistress, Flavius Sabinus has come to see you, and I’ve seated him in the garden, as he requested. He would like you to come to him.”
“Tell him I have no desire to see him.”
Graecia stepped forward. “What the mistress means to say is tell him she will be there shortly.” The slave bowed and left to convey Graecia’s version of the message.
“That’s not at all what I meant to say, Graecia. Everything I’ve ever heard tells me he’s a horrible man, and I don’t want to see him at all.”
“I understand, mistress, but Master Lucius has promised him that he will be your husband. I’m afraid of what a man like him might do if you refuse to see him. It will be so much better for you if you can somehow bring yourself to be nice to him. If he likes you, maybe it won’t be so bad being his wife.”
“Oh, Graecia. How could Lucius give me to a man like him? I know I made Lucius mad when I accused him of murdering Father, but I never dreamed he’d sell me like this. I’ve never done anything to deserve this.”
“I know, mistress, but now that he has, you just have to try to make the best of it.”
“But I don’t know how I’ll ever be able to do that.”
“You can start by going out to him in the garden and trying to be nice to him. Please try, mistress. I don’t want to see him hurt you, and if he likes you, he might be good to you.” As Graecia watched the tears trickling down Claudia’s cheeks, her own eyes filled with tears.
Claudia wiped the tears from her cheeks and sighed. “I know you’re right, and I’ll try. Give me that hideous necklace he sent yesterday. He’ll probably want to see me in it.”
“Yes, mistress, I’m sure he will.”
Relief surged through Graecia. Her young mistress was at least trying to do what Master Lucius wanted. The master expected Graecia to get Mistress Claudia to stop being such an emotional fool, or he’d hold her responsible. She suppressed a shudder as she considered what that might mean. Master Lucius wasn’t a patient man, so it was important for the mistress to stop all this crying and get on with life. The sooner she did that, the better for everyone.
Sabinus was beginning to wonder if the lovely Claudia was ever going to appear, and his patience was wearing thin. Then he saw her enter the garden, and the wait was almost worthwhile. Her eyes were puffy from crying, but she was still as exquisitely beautiful as her reputation had promised. She was, in fact, a trophy worth acquiring.
“My dear Claudia, what a vision of loveliness you are today.”
The look in his eyes was one of hunger, and it sent chills up Claudia’s spine. He was seated on a bench and waved his hand to invite her to join him, but she stopped just in front of him and remained standing.
“I am sorry for the delay in welcoming you, Fabius Sabinus, but your visit was unexpected.” She tried to smile at him, but her smile was a tenuous one. She hadn’t expected him to be so old and ugly. He was even older than Father, and there was that worn look about him that bespoke the long nights of drinking and women that Aemilia had told her about.
“Call me Quintus. I see you appreciate the necklace I sent as a small token of my regard. I’m glad to see it on you.” His raspy voice showed the effects of his excesses. “Your exquisite beauty enhances its own.”
His response to her wearing the hideous necklace was exactly what she expected from a man like him. He could buy her from Lucius with money, but if he thought he could buy her affection with expensive gifts, he was wrong. “It was a surprise when such an extravagant gift arrived yesterday. My brother was quite delighted with it.”
“A beautiful woman like yourself deserves to be adorned by the most beautiful jewelry.” His lips curved into a smug smile as he obviously congratulated himself on her appreciation of his gift. Then he caught the flicker of disdain that crossed her face before she could stop it. His lip twitched as he grasped the subtle sarcasm of her response.
“When you move into my villa, you will find many pieces of jewelry for your enjoyment. I have been acquiring beautiful pieces to adorn my wives for many years.”
Claudia fought to suppress her cringe. He was planning on her wearing the jewelry he’d bought for the wife he’d just beaten to death.
Sabinus stood and stepped close to her. The necklace was a 4-inch wide plate of gold suspended from a heavy gold chain and encrusted with seven rubies and ten emeralds. He reached out and fingered the necklace. Then, as he smiled his crocodile smile, he traced its outline where it rested against her breast. She shivered at his touch and stepped back.
She was an unspoiled beauty, and he was not surprised that she withdrew from his intimate touch. He would enjoy their first night much more than she would, but that was fine with him. He really didn’t care if she ever enjoyed anything as long as he got his pleasure.
A lecherous gleam appeared in the reptilian eyes. Claudia could stand no more. “If you will excuse me, Flavius Sabinus, I haven’t felt well at all today, and I really must leave you now and rest.”
“Of course, my dear. We will have years to get to know each other well. Very well, indeed.” His smile was a cruel smirk. “I look forward to sharing that intimate knowledge with you.” He traced her upper arm with his middle fingertip. “And you should call me Quintus now.”
Claudia tipped her head to him and turned away. She would have run from the room, but she forced herself to stroll. He would have liked her to run for the pleasure of watching her distress. Those hungry eyes...she’d never felt so exposed before, and he found pleasure in her fear. He was even colder and almost certainly much crueler than anything Aemilia had suggested.
Lucius must cancel the betrothal. He simply must. She could never stand being married to this horrible man. She would rather die.
Lucius startled when Sabinus stepped into the library unannounced. The old man’s lips were tight, and Lucius was instantly nervous in his presence again. He pasted a smile on his own, trying to conceal the effect the crocodile had on him.
Sabinus stood so close to the desk that Lucius had to tip his head back to look into the reptilian eyes. “I’m disappointed in how my future wife’s recovery from her grief over her father’s death is progressing.” His lips smiled but not his eyes. “I’m eager to take her to complete the marriage ceremony and install her in my villa.”
“I quite understand your eagerness. She is still deep in her grief, but I think she’s beginning to improve. I expect she’ll soon be happy to join your family in your home.”
Sabinus’s gaze raked Drusus from head to lap and back. This son of the scholar wasn’t a practiced liar. He hadn’t mastere
d the art of making his eyes and his lips convey the same emotion when it was false. Sabinus had, when he wanted to, but today it would be much better for Drusus to read his thoughts in his eyes rather than believe the lies on his lips.
“I was glad to see your sister’s beauty is undiminished. It was good to see her wearing my necklace, although I’m not sure she appreciates its true worth and what it means when she wears it.”
He dropped his gaze to the desktop as he drew his index finger along it, then inspected it for dust. When he raised his eyes to meet Drusus’s, he let the ice form. “I expected a warmer reception. She is still very young, but she must learn that a woman’s role is to get her own pleasure from giving pleasure to her husband. That is something the paterfamilias should have under control.”
Sabinus smiled stiffly, but the coldness of his eyes fully made his point.
Lucius’s stomach knotted under the crocodile’s stare. “She’s had no mother since she was three, and the duties of a good wife are a mystery to her. Perhaps I should have my own wife talk with her so she has a clearer understanding.”
The crocodile smiled again. “That would be wise, for everyone’s sake. Now, I must leave. I’m attending to a special matter for the Emperor, and even I don’t like to keep Trajan waiting too long.”
“Of course. I look forward to your next visit.” As Lucius bowed his head, Sabinus turned and walked out.
Lucius looked at his left hand and gripped it with his right to stop the tremor. In his anger with Claudia, he’d foolishly closed the door on any possible escape from becoming permanently tied to one of the most dangerous men in Rome. If only he’d waited. Maybe something would have prevented him from having to be frequently in the company of a man who, quite frankly, scared him half to death.
Chapter 13: No Way Out
Lucius sat at his father’s desk, rolling his father’s stylus between his fingers when Claudia entered the room. With quick steps, she approached and stopped right in front of the desk.
“Lucius. Please. You’ve got to get me out of the betrothal to Flavius Sabinus. He was just here, and I tried to be nice to him, but…” Tears began trickling down her cheeks. “Oh, Lucius! He’s the most horrible man I’ve ever met. The way he looked at me, the way he touched me. You know he beat his last wife to death. Please. Don’t send me into his house to suffer like she must have before he killed her.”
She reached across the desk and gripped his hand. “Please, Lucius. Don’t do this to me. I’ll never say you murdered Father again. I’ll marry anyone else you pick without complaining, but please...don’t make me marry him.”
As Lucius looked at her agonized eyes, he knew he should tell her he would end the betrothal. He should never send her off into certain suffering and maybe even an early death. He shouldn’t make her marry Sabinus…but he was going to, anyway. If he didn’t, he would be the victim of some horrible revenge from the crocodile. As much as he might like to spare his sister from what he’d done in a fit of anger, he was much more concerned with protecting himself.
He shook her hand off. “I’ve given him my word that you’ll marry him. I keep my word, Claudia. We’ll have no more talk of you not marrying Sabinus. He’s from one of the noblest families, he’s extremely rich, he moves in the highest social circles, and he tells me he has great admiration for you. He’s proving that by paying me 50,000 denarii for the privilege of marrying you. No man spends that kind of money on a woman he plans to harm. The rumors that he killed his wife are only vicious, jealous gossip about a great Roman. You should be honored that such a man wants to marry you. Now leave me, and don’t talk to me about this again.”
He pulled a wax tablet in front of himself and began writing on it.
Her tears transformed into sobs as she whirled and ran from the room.
Lucius watched her with some regret. Regret that he couldn’t go back in time to before Sabinus came to his house and made that wretched offer. If only he’d never met the man. But he had, and to cross one of the most powerful men in Rome, a man whose threats were hardly even veiled, was not a risk he was willing to take. It was much better for Claudia to suffer than to end up suffering himself.
Lucius’s wife, Cornelia Scipia, would not have come to the town house from the eastern estate to visit her husband, but she was more than willing to make the trip to visit poor Claudia.
She’d always liked Publius and considered him one of the finest men of her wide acquaintance. Claudia had been the joy of her father’s life, as he had been of hers. His gruesome death because of Lucius’s betrayal must have devastated her.
Claudia was the same age as her own oldest son, so she was more like a niece than a sister-in-law. The poor girl had no mother, and Cornelia had tried to befriend her, but the eastern villa was far enough from the town house that she hadn’t seen as much of Claudia as she probably should have. She could have performed many of the roles of a real mother if she’d lived closer.
Cornelia left her litter in the stable yard and strolled through the peristyle to the atrium. Her nose twitched when she glanced toward Publius’s library, where her scum of a husband probably was.
Pain and anger simmered near the surface. Lucius abandoned their marriage bed as soon as his father was arrested. For seven years, she’d endured his many rejections after the birth of their third son ten years earlier. She was a proud daughter of one of the noblest families, and she had never allowed Lucius to see how much it hurt when he chose to spend his nights with promiscuous Roman ladies and even prostitutes rather than with her.
He would have mocked her if she’d ever told him how delighted she’d been when Publius became a God-fearer and told Lucius that the only woman he was allowed was his own wife. Too often he’d complained that she didn’t know how to satisfy him like the wanton women Publius had denied him. But their beautiful little daughter, who was now almost two, had been born while Lucius was really her husband again. With Publius dead, Lucius had returned to his womanizing ways. Once more, he’d hurt her deeply, but her pride had carried her through the first round of rejections, and it would carry her through this one. At least she had her precious daughter as consolation.
When Cornelia entered the bedchamber, Claudia was lying face-down on her bed, her shoulders shaking as she cried. Graecia stood beside her mistress, helpless to stop the tears.
Cornelia sat down beside Claudia and rested her hand on the broken-hearted girl’s back. She began to rub it. “I’m so sorry about Publius. I wish with all my heart that I could undo what Lucius has done.”
Claudia rolled over onto her back. Red-rimmed eyes and the puffiness beneath them marred her usual beauty. “Everything is so horrible. First Lucius had Father killed, and now he’s making me marry Flavius Sabinus. You know what he is.”
Claudia’s breast jerked as she fought against a new flood of tears. “Oh, Cornelia, what am I going to do? I’ve begged Lucius to release me from the betrothal, but he’s going to get 50,000 denarii for marrying me to that horrible old man. He told me there’s no way he’ll get me out of it.”
Claudia’s hands clenched. “I hate him! I hate him with every fiber of my being for murdering Father. I hate him for selling me. I wish he was dead. I’d gladly kill him myself if I had the chance.”
Cornelia let the threat against her husband’s life pass without comment. She’d felt that way many times herself during the years when he’d rejected her. The thought had crossed her mind again this past week.
“He betrothed you to Quintus Flavius Sabinus?” Claudia’s nod was accompanied by another jerk. “But he’s your father’s age.”
Cornelia had heard for years about Sabinus’s sadistic behavior and studied cruelty to both his now-dead wives.
“Please, Cornelia. Will you go to Lucius? Will you talk him out of doing this to me? I just can’t marry that monster.”
Cornelia swept some tears from Claudia’s cheek. “I’ll try, but I don’t expect it to do any g
ood. Lucius hasn’t cared what I think since before you were born.”
“You have to convince him. You’re my only hope. If you can’t change his mind, life won’t be worth living.”
“That’s not true. Even when all your dreams turn to ashes, life is still worth living, if only to make Lucius see that he hasn’t won. You can’t let him think he’s won. The ultimate revenge is to deprive him of enjoying his victory.”
Cornelia offered her sister-in-law a smile that she hoped was encouraging, but the sadness in her own heart over her husband’s latest rejection and the death of the father-in-law who’d always been a good friend made her smile a sad one.
“I’ll go talk to him. I doubt that he’ll listen to me, but I’ll try.”
The gratitude in Claudia’s eyes almost broke Cornelia’s heart. She’d be willing to bet nothing would change, and this sweet, beautiful girl would be made to suffer for years. She’d suffered herself, but at least Lucius wasn’t a violent man. Despite all his cutting words and cruel neglect, he’d never hit her even once. From all she’d heard, she didn’t expect Claudia to have even that small consolation as the wife of Sabinus.
Cornelia found Lucius seated at the desk in his father’s library. He was rolling a stylus between his fingers. When she entered, he set the stylus down, and a smile appeared.
“Cornelia. Just the person I need right now.”
Cornelia’s eyebrow rose at those words. He’d already made it abundantly clear that he didn’t need or want her anymore.
“You surprise me, husband. What do you need from me?”
“It’s Claudia. She doesn’t want to marry the man I’ve betrothed her to. He’s concerned that she doesn’t know what’s required of a wife. I told him I’d have you talk with her about what makes a good wife.”