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you would,” she whispered, “and now you’re
    trying to get rid of it.
    “No, I just have cramps,” I lied.
    Numa rolled her eyes and curled her lip, expelling a disgusted breath. She was quiet a
    moment, then asked, “Need any help?”
    I shook my head. Then I changed my mind. “I’m about done with this. Now I have to walk for
    an hour. You could walk with me.”
    I emptied the whey bucket I’d used to steep the rag, and we began to walk around the house.
    “How long did you say you had to walk?” Numa asked me.
    “An hour she said.”
    “Walk two hours.”
    “How do you know so much about this?”
    Numa shrugged. “That Ariana at the shop. I told you she’d get herself into trouble. She took
    the medicine twice before it worked.” Numa held two fingers in front of my face. “Almost killed
    her, too. She bled so bad I swore she’d turn as white as a Roman.” She grinned at me. Then she
    frowned. “Don’t try this again. If it doesn’t work, it wasn’t meant to.”
    “It has to work,” I insisted. “Talk to me about something else while we walk.”
    She looked down for a few seconds as we walked, and then she said, “Father’s found me a
    husband.”
    I stopped and grasped her shoulder. “Numa! You didn’t tell me!”
    She shrugged again. “You’ve been a little preoccupied – and I was mad at you for taking on
    with that boy, maybe a little jealous.”
    “Well, who is it? Is it anyone we know?”
    “No, he lives in Hippo. His uncle is Corvinus, who owns the tavern.”
    “Have you seen him?”
    She nodded. “I didn’t like him at first. He’s not beautiful to look at, Leona, not beautiful at all.
    He was burned by lye on the side of his face as a small child and he’s wrinkled as a date on that
    side – brown as a date, too,” she added. “But I think he’s kind. He makes me laugh, and he
    brought me a little gift when he came the second time – some flowers. Imagine, Leona, as if I
    were a lady.”
    “He’s from Hippo? Will you have to go live there?”
    Numa nodded. “He and his father work in the ship building yards there. He says men with
    ship-building skills make a fine living in the sea towns, even if they are plebs and don’t own
    property. Leona, I’ll see the sea every day. I can’t imagine what so much water must look like.
    He says the sea washes to the shore in great waves and then washes back out. I can’t even picture
    it.”
    I remembered the mosaics in Urbanus’ dining room. What a foolish girl I’d been, giving away
    my virtue for a few pompous words and a glimpse of a picture of the sea. Numa, no prettier than
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    I was, had been wiser, and won the sight of the sea itself. I tried not to be jealous, but a hard
    lump of regret filled my throat. “I’m happy for you.”
    “I wasn’t happy at first,” she admitted. “I was afraid until I met him. And then the first time
    we met, I didn’t like his looks at all. I wouldn’t talk to him and I cried after he left. But I think he
    understood, and he tried hard to charm me on our second meeting. And I came to see his
    goodness. I think I’ll be happy,” she finished.
    We kept walking. “Well, I’ll be happy for you then,” I repeated, but I was lying. As much as I
    loved Numa, I didn’t want her to be happy while I was miserable, and I thought then about her
    leaving. I would be alone to face father’s wrath and to wait on him and Tito for the rest of my
    bleak life.
    The night was pretty, with a little eyelash of moon, and a smell of lilies. We walked carefully
    in the dark, the grass cool and damp under our feet.
    “So,” she asked, “your boy…he knows about the baby?”
    “He knows.”
    “And what did he say?”
    “He said get rid of it and that’s what I’m doing.” I lifted my chin and marched a little harder.
    Numa nodded. “For the best, since he can’t marry you. Now you’re free to find a good man to
    marry – like I did,” she added, her face lighting up. “Leona,