Abigail smiled now too. Ester would love to hear him uttering his pride. “They seem to accept you readily, Master, for all you are. They respect you.”
Jason rolled his eyes. “They respect me because they think of me as a Roman. And while I am that, it certainly does not mean that what my mother gave me is worthless. Just because I favor my father’s traditions does not negate the other half of my heritage. Indeed,” he added dryly, “with my father embracing my mother’s religion as he does, it seems I must defend it to them. I fear, though, I have been ignoring it too long in their presence to adequately do so. But you did well speaking for the Hebrews, Abigail.”
She ducked her head at the compliment.
“Well.” He looked around him with satisfaction. “That seems to be the last of it. We have the next day to relax, beloved. I will not even make you cook. There is enough here already to feed us until Dinah returns.”
“Surely you will want dinner tonight before your shift begins.” As she spoke, she realized for the first time that she would be left alone all the night long. The idea did not settle well. She would not mind a night in her own chamber, but with no one else around? An uneasiness began to claw its way up her throat.
“Oh, did I not tell you?” Surprise shone on his face. “Another centurion is covering for me tonight, repaying a favor he owed. I will not have to go anywhere.” He grinned with a hint of mischief. “Although I see no reason to tell my father this little bit of news. He will be angry that I did not then take the opportunity to go hear the Nazarene teach.”
Relieved at not being alone, Abigail could not drum up any aversion for the deception. She nodded.
They spent the remainder of the afternoon and evening in normal activities for Abigail; for a while she sang, lute in hand, and then she read aloud to Jason from Aristotle’s Politics, a manuscript he had just recently acquired. As dusk settled, they engaged in a lively debate on the subjects brought up in the treatise, and on more than one occasion Jason looked at her with complete disbelief.
“I am beginning to understand the decisions my father made on your education,” he said at one point. “To not instruct you in these subjects would be to deprive oneself of hours of entertaining argument.”
She rolled her eyes and turned to another point in the treatise.
After the moon had risen and the stars made their appearance, they settled into bed for the night. Jason ran his fingers lightly over her back as she rested against his chest. “I think you would like Rome, Abigail. In Israel, so much emphasis is put on the Law that other literature is hard to come by. But there, there are libraries, academies–everywhere you turn, there is the opportunity to read and learn.”
Abigail studied his profile in the moonlight, unable to miss the love in his voice for that city he had left so recently. Surely it was a vain hope on her mistress’s part that he might remain in Jerusalem forever. “When do you plan to return?”
Jason took a deep breath, then let it back out slowly. “I do not know, really. I hope within five years. Caius Asinius, Titus’s father, has promised to help me launch a political career when I return. Hopefully when that happens Father will gift me with the land he still owns outside the city.”
This was news to Abigail, and she wondered why she had not heard of it in six years. “Your father owns land in Rome?”
“Yes. Titus and I went out to look at it before we left for Israel. The steward is a trustworthy man, one Father knew since he was a child. He takes excellent care of it, and he corresponds with Father regularly. But I cannot imagine my parents ever going to Rome to live.”
“No. I cannot either.”
“It is a beautiful place.” A smile colored his voice. “The estate is large, probably about five miles outside of the walls of Rome, and absolutely breathtaking. The house is three times the size of this one, at least. Not exactly the largest in the area, but nothing to scoff at. Titus was impressed, and that must say something.”
He glanced down at Abigail. “Perhaps I will take you back with me.”
Abigail stiffened with panic at the suggestion. “Five years is a long time, Jason.”
To her surprise, he chuckled. “Indeed it is, beloved. That is why I make no firm promises to you. But many things could happen in that time. We could have children. If that happened, I would naturally take you wherever I went.”
The possibility of becoming pregnant had not been one that Abigail wanted to entertain. “Would you?” She squeezed her eyes closed to try to force the idea from her mind.