Read Online Caesar's Women by Colleen McCullough - Free Book Online Page B

struck him as exquisitely funny; he roared with laughter. “I probably feel like an alley cat with the wind in its tail!”
    Rent day disappeared; Aurelia realized from what interview with whom Caesar must just have emerged. “Oho! Servilia!”
    “Servilia,” he echoed, and sat down, suddenly recovering from that fizzing state of exaltation.
    “In love, are we?” asked the mother clinically.
    He considered that, shook his head. “I doubt it. In lust, perhaps, though I'm not even sure of that. I dislike her, I think.”
    “A promising beginning. You're bored.”
    “True. Certainly bored with all these women who gaze adoringly and lie down to let me wipe my feet on them.”
    “She won't do that for you, Caesar.”
    “I know, I know.”
    “What did she want to see you for? To start an affair?”
    “Oh, we haven't progressed anywhere as far along as that, Mater. In fact, I have no idea whether my lust is reciprocated. It may well not be, because it only really began when she turned her back on me to go.”
    “I grow more curious by the moment. What did she want?”
    “Guess,” he said, grinning.
    “Don't play games with me!”
    “You won't guess?”
    “I'll do more than refuse to guess, Caesar, if you don't stop acting like a ten-year-old. I shall leave.”
    “No, no, stay there, Mater, I'll behave. It just feels so good to be faced with a challenge, a little bit of terra incognita.”
    “Yes, I do understand that,” she said, and smiled. “Tell me.”
    “She came on young Brutus's behalf. To ask that I consent to a betrothal between young Brutus and Julia.”
    That obviously came as a surprise; Aurelia blinked several times. “How extraordinary!”
    “The thing is, Mater, whose idea is it? Hers or Brutus's?”
    Aurelia put her head on one side and thought. Finally she nodded and said, “Brutus's, I would think. When one's dearly loved granddaughter is a mere child, one doesn't expect things like that to happen, but upon reflection there have been signs. He does tend to look at her like a particularly dense sheep,”
    “You're full of the most remarkable animal metaphors today, Mater! From alley cats to sheep.”
    “Stop being facetious, even if you are in lust for the boy's mother. Julia's future is too important.”
    He sobered instantly. “Yes, of course. Considered in the crudest light, it is a wonderful offer, even for a Julia.”
    “I agree, especially at this time, before your own political career is anywhere near its zenith. Betrothal to a Junius Brutus whose mother is a Servilius Caepio would gather you immense support among the boni, Caesar. All the Junii, both the patrician and the plebeian Servilii, Hortensius, some of the Domitii, quite a few of the Caecilii Metelli—even Catulus would have to pause.”
    “Tempting,” said Caesar.
    “Very tempting if the boy is serious.”
    “His mother assures me he is.”
    “I believe he is too. Nor does he strike me as the kind to blow hot and cold. A very sober and cautious boy, Brutus.”
    “Would Julia like it?” asked Caesar, frowning.
    Aurelia's brows rose. “That's an odd question coming from you. You're her father, her marital fate is entirely in your hands, and you've never given me any reason to suppose you would consider letting her marry for love. She's too important, she's your only child. Besides, Julia will do as she's told. I've brought her up to understand that things like marriage are not hers to dictate.”
    “But I would like her to like the idea.”
    “You are not usually a prey to sentiment, Caesar. Is it that you don't care much for the boy yourself?” she asked shrewdly.
    He sighed. “Partly, perhaps. Oh, I didn't dislike him the way I dislike his mother. But he seemed a dull dog.”
    “Animal metaphors!”
    That made him laugh, but briefly. “She's such a sweet little thing, and so lively. Her mother and I were so happy that I'd like to see her happy in her marriage.”
    “Dull dogs make good husbands,” said