Shame mounted fast. “Lord, we did not realize. We would not have sent for you–”
Drusus halted his apology with a raised hand. “She was a bitter and tired woman. I would be lying if I said it were not a relief. But I had to see to the arrangements, the funeral. I set out for Jerusalem as soon as I decently could. How does your mistress fare?”
“Not well, Lord. Some hours, she is peaceful and her fever lets up, others she tosses in delirium and burns to the touch. The doctor who has already come says it is her mind causing the affliction, and that treating her body is useless. I fear he is right.”
Drusus sighed, raking a hand through his gray hair. He looked weary. “Let us pray if it is the case, we can find a way to treat her soul.” They walked a few steps in silence. “And Jason’s wife? How is she and the child?”
Andrew listened carefully to the tone of voice and found no fault in his concern. “Both are healthy as far as we can tell. Abigail has been very tired throughout these months, and the worry of our mistress has only made it worse this past fortnight. She should deliver soon.”
Drusus nodded. “Let us pray it is a son. Cleopas deserves an heir. I have none, and if the estates were to come to me, they would also end with me. I do not want the Visibullis name to perish along with this generation.”
Andrew nodded in understanding, pleased that the man realized it was more a matter of family than self.
They were near the house, then, and entered quickly, with no ado. Drusus insisted that he be shown to Ester at once.
He sat with her for ten minutes; she was in one of her incoherent phases of delirium. Andrew stood with Simon and Dinah outside in the hallway while he questioned her, felt the pulse in her wrist, and tested her forehead with a knowing hand. Then he was silent and still, obviously contemplating. At last, he stood and moved into the hall.
“I dare to agree with the other physician,” he told them. “She is troubled and sick of heart. We need to get her away from this house for a while. Every time she opens her eyes, she sees what Cleopas gave her, the room she delivered her son in. Simon, make arrangements to leave here. The sooner the better. I would like to start today, before the Sabbath. I have a friend with an inn outside the city. It is pleasant and quiet, and very peaceful. I think it would be a good place for her to go for a while.”
No one objected. In fact, they all sprang into action. Simon headed out to make the travel arrangements, Dinah set about getting food for the short trip and otherwise closing the kitchen, and Andrew began to pack for Ester, since Abigail had not yet returned.
“Where is her daughter?” Drusus asked after a half an hour had gone by. Andrew had finished his self-assigned task and was ready to head to his own chamber to pack for himself.
He sighed and shook his head. “She was going to watch the trial of the teacher we heard while visiting you in Ephraim. She would not listen when we told her it was unwise. But she should be returning soon.”
“Good. We need to leave soon. I do not like the look of that storm moving in. It will only take us an hour to reach the inn, but the clouds say that may be barely enough time.” He turned to Ester once more, and his brows flew up. “Who is that?”
Andrew turned to see Samuel had joined Ester on the bed and was caressing her temple with a small hand. He smiled. “Abigail’s servant, Samuel. Though he is more her son now. The young master purchased him not long before the uprising. He has been an amazing comfort to us all.”
Drusus smiled for the first time, erasing some of the tension in his visage. “He appears to have a gift for soothing. Ester has quieted.” He chuckled. “A future physician if ever I saw one.”
Andrew surveyed the peaceful scene for a moment, then began to worry once more. Abigail had been gone too long already.
*
Titus awoke that morning hungry for revenge. It was not sated because of the command of a fickle crowd. It only shifted in its focus. When Barabbas was set free, when he was given the order to see the man outside, he knew he would still have his lust fulfilled, even if he had to track him down like a deer and kill him himself. And then he would see that Pilate, that Herod, that the religious leaders, that Jerusalem itself felt the force of his rage. When he returned to Rome, he would play in politics as his father wished, and he would set the entire force of the empire on the proud little nation that thought it just to crucify a teacher who taught lessons they did not like.