He pushed himself away and up as quickly as he had come down on her, then pulled her up with him, tacitly ignoring the shaking in her limbs. “You will tell no one how you have shamed me. Not even my mother. You will rejoice at this blessing as a woman should, and if the other servants ask you why I dragged you in here so angrily, you will tell them it was because I found you visiting your friend’s mother, that you were just going to inform her of her welfare. To make me forget my anger, you just informed me that you are with child. I am overjoyed!”
He pasted on a bright smile that probably still simmered with rage, holding out his arms in demonstration. “I am going to rush to share the news with my friends. You,” he said, grabbing her by the hand and pulling her toward the door, “are going to tell my mother that you will be giving her a grandchild. Come.”
*
Once more Abigail followed.
Jason’s mother, perhaps stirred by the commotion of their entrance, came into the hall just as they reached her chamber. “Jason.” Confusion etched her countenance. “I did not expect you back so soon.”
“I am going out again.” He sounded remarkably cheerful, even smiled convincingly. He kissed his mother on the cheek. “We are having a baby, Mother. You will soon have a grandchild. Is it not a blessing?”
Ester beamed, her joy genuine and evident. “Jason! Abigail!” She hugged first one, then the other, framing Abigail’s face with her hands. “Dear one, you do not look well. Is it making you ill? That is normal enough, especially so early in the day.”
“I will be all right,” Abigail said meekly.
“See that she eats.” Jason’s tone brooked no argument. “I suspect she has not yet done so this morning. Am I right, beloved?”
The endearment sounded like wormwood, but Abigail kept by a hair from wincing. “You are right. I was waiting for my stomach to settle.”
He nodded, still smiling. Before leaving, he kissed Abigail’s forehead, then Ester’s cheek once more. “I will be back soon.”
To Abigail’s ears, it sounded like a threat. She closed her eyes, the tears welling up again. Was this how it would be now? A loving face before others, and hatred when they were alone? She was not sure she could bear it.
A gentle arm came around her, and Abigail opened her bleary eyes to see Ester’s compassionate smile. “It is much for you to adjust to.” Her mistress led her into her chamber and sat with her on the luxurious chaise. “I remember that much. The nausea, the fluctuating emotions. You will be crying one minute, then laughing the next. It is a blessed time, Abigail. And Jason is so pleased. Perhaps now he will marry you.”
“Perhaps.” She could hold the tears at bay no longer. As they squeezed through her shuttered eyes, Ester urged her to lie down.
“Rest, child. I will have Dinah make you something to eat. You must take it easy now,” she said cheerfully. “No more waiting on me hand and foot. You have my grandchild to think of.”
Abigail wished she could fall asleep and never wake up. Ester’s joy would be as hard to handle as Jason’s ire.
Chapter Seventeen
She was waiting for him. Jason saw her standing outside her door, arms crossed over her chest, lazily scanning those meandering nearby. He could tell by the way she straightened but did not move upon spotting him that it was he she was waiting for. Which was fine with him. He intended to get a few answers. Before he could head in her direction, though, he heard Lentulus hailing him rather desperately.
“Jason! By Jupiter, man, give me a hand! Where did you go?”
The sight of his friend trying to haul Menelaus up the street, the latter draped over him like a child’s rag doll, was enough to bring a smile to Jason’s lips. Lentulus had apparently had a difficult time rousting Menelaus at all, for even now he was so drunk that he could not stand on his own.
“One moment!” Jason called back, then headed for the harlot.
The harlot did not so much as push off from the frame, just regarded him with those old, cynical eyes. She held out the vial to him. “Before you chastise me for assisting your little woman in her dark task, why do you not see what I put in here?”
Curious enough to put aside his anger, Jason accepted the small pot and removed the cork. He dipped a finger into it, then stuck it on his tongue. His brows shot up. “Honeyed water?”
She shrugged, tamping down a smile. “Fear and expectations can go far. She would have felt ill, but she would have truly suffered only the pangs of conscience. By the time she realized I tricked her, she would have panicked herself into realizing she wanted the babe.”
His eyes narrowed, and he handed the harmless potion back to her. “Why?”