*
Next morning before sunrise, Aeschylus rattled at the gate. Melaina heard the eunuch arguing with him at the front door and the dog, Argos, whining to see him. "Come in if you must," the eunuch finally said, "but you can't stay long."
Kallias rose quickly, and Melaina heard the men argue in the courtyard. Kallias then returned with wrinkles across his brow, but wouldn't tell the trouble. He left with Aeschylus, Argos nipping Aeschylus' heels until Kallias cuffed him. The hollow sound of horses' hooves faded into the distance.
Melaina took the opportunity to survey her new home. She'd never seen one kept so dark. Out back, she saw orchards enclosed by stone walls, two hectares of trees weighted down for picking: pears, pomegranates, brilliant apples, luscious figs. Water channels ran from a clear fountain, while another gushed under the courtyard entrance. What luck, the Persians hadn't defiled any of it.
Lady Hipparete came from her chamber sleepy-eyed to greet Melaina. She wore a pleasant smile but wrinkled brow, definitely without the spark she'd exhibited last night. Perhaps she's not pleased to have me as daughter-in-law, Melaina thought. "Is the Persian threat troubling you, or is it something about me?" Melaina asked.
Hipparete was quiet, unanswering. Melaina watched the dark sympathetic eyes set in the woman's small oval face framed by curly black hair. Her son had taken his looks from her, so different from Melaina's own light-complexioned, blond-haired mother, easy and quiet, almost simple, without the nervous intelligent eyes. Melaina felt an unexpected comfort in Hipparete's presence.
Finally, Hipparete spoke. "I hope you'll be happy here in Kallias' home. It was mine until Hipponicus died, and I've stayed on to govern it until Kallias married. Many times, when the daughter-in-law takes over, she puts her husband's mother out in the street. My dowry is not large, and I hope you'll find use for me. I'm good with slave girls, a little weak at weaving, to be honest about it, but quite good with the ovens."
Until speaking with Kallias last night, Melaina had not dreamed of having such power over the household, and now this. Kallias' mother feared her. "Put your mind at rest," Melaina said. "As long as I'm mistress, you'll have a place in my home." Melaina took her mother-in-law's cold hands in both of her own, warmed them, saw tears in her eyes. "And as for the baking, I hate the heat. Weaving is my one talent. A perfect match, we'll be."
The Mysteries, A Novel of Ancient Eleusis Page 71