To Love Again - Bertrice Small [6]
Kyna clapped a hand to her mouth. “I was so distressed by Gaius’s news that I forgot to ask him. It must be soon, or he wouldn’t have said anything. Cailin’s birthday is in a few weeks. Perhaps Quintus Drusus will arrive by then. I expect that Gaius has been dealing in this perfidy since last summer. He knows the young man’s name, and even his history.” Her blue eyes grew angry. “Indeed, I am beginning to suspect this plot was hatched some time ago!”
“We will have to tell Cailin,” Brenna said. “She should be aware of her father’s actions. I know Gaius will not force her to marry this Quintus if she does not like him. That is not his way, Kyna. He is a just man.”
“Aye, he is,” Kyna admitted. “He has agreed that if Cailin refuses his choice, he will find Quintus Drusus another wife, and give him some land. Still, I wonder, Mother, will these Roman relations be content if their son marries another girl when they have been promised our daughter? There are no young girls of our acquaintance whose families can equal or even come near Cailin’s dowry. Times are very hard, Mother. Only my husband’s prudence has allowed Cailin the advantages of an heiress’s wealth.”
Brenna took her daughter’s hand in hers and patted it comfortingly. “Let us not seek out difficulties, or see them where none yet exist,” she said wisely. “Perhaps this Quintus Drusus will be the perfect husband for Cailin.”
“Husband? What is this talk of a husband, Grandmother?”
The two older women started guiltily and, swinging about, came face to face with the main object of their discussion, a tall, slender young girl with wide violet-colored eyes and an unruly mop of auburn curls.
“Mother? Grandmother? Who is Quintus Drusus?” Cailin demanded. “I want no husband chosen for me; nor am I yet even ready to wed.”
“Then you had best tell your father that, my daughter,” Kyna said bluntly. Although she had worried about broaching this problem with Cailin, it was not her way to beat about the bush. Plain speech was best, particularly in a difficult situation like this. “Your father has sent to his family in Rome for a prospective husband for you. He thinks it is time you were married. Quintus Drusus is the young man’s name, and he is, I surmise, expected at any minute.”
“I will certainly not marry this Quintus Drusus,” Cailin said, with stony finality in her tone. “How could Father do such a thing? Why should I be married off before Flavius and Titus, or has he sent to Rome for brides to wed my brothers too? If he has, he will find they are no more eager than I am!”
Brenna could not help but laugh. “There is far more Celt than Roman in you, my child,” she said, chuckling. “Do not worry about this Quintus Drusus. Your father has said if you do not like him, you do not have to have him; but perhaps he will turn out to be the man of your dreams, Cailin. It is possible.”
“I cannot imagine why Father thinks I need a husband,” Cailin grumbled. “It is too ridiculous to even contemplate. I would much rather stay at home with my family. If I marry, then I must take charge of a household and have babies. I am not ready for all of that. I have had little enough freedom to do anything I really find interesting, for I am deemed too young, but suddenly I am old enough to wed. How absurd! Poor Antonia Porcius was married two years ago when she was just fourteen. Now look at her! She has two babies. She has grown fat, and she always looks tired. Is that what Father thinks will make me happy? And as for Antonia’s husband, well! I hear he has taken a very pretty Egyptian slave girl to his bed. That shall not happen to me, I assure you. When the time comes, I will choose my own husband, and he will never stray from my side, or I will kill him!”
“Cailin!” Kyna reproved her. “Where did you ever hear such salacious gossip about Antonia Porcius? I am surprised at your repeating it.”
“Ohh, Mother, everyone knows. Antonia complains about her husband at every