Early the next morning everything was packed and Julius had arrived. Aurelia’s family plus one climbed into the carriage and set off for the country. "Did you enjoy your stay in Rome, Julius?" her mother inquired archly, making Aurelia turn to gaze at the passing scenery. "I found it very educational listening to the Senate. I think it was very instructive for me." "Ah…" her mother answered unenthusiastically. She had hoped from something more titillating. Her mother had asked endless questions about Julius’ surprise visit that one afternoon. Aurelia wondered how she would manage to wait patiently for the carriage to arrive home. "I just want you to know, mother, that no matter what the hour, I’m going to see Claudia the minute we arrive." "Well, that’s fine. Julius can walk you." Aurelia sighed: to be stuck with Julius, who thought he was so grown up, practically a Senator. Aurelia laughed without meaning to. "What’s so amusing?" "Nothing, mother."
Julius walked alongside her as they made their way towards his family’s villa. The sky was still somewhat light with a warm orange glow of the sunset. "Isn’t it beautiful?" Aurelia commented. Julius turned to her. "You’re talking to me?" "Oh, Julius, can’t I make a comment!" "Well you couldn’t all day in the carriage, so I am surprised you wish to now." "Don’t act like your feelings are hurt, because that is just ridiculous." "Oh, is it?" he said grabbing her shoulders to turn her to face him. "Why should you be allowed to walk all over me, Aurelia?" "You would do the same thing, if I let you!" "You think that, do you? What do I have to do Aurelia? What?" She refused to answer, looking him boldly in the eye, sticking to her assessment of his character. Before she knew what had happened, Julius was kissing her, and she was kissing him back.
"Oh!" she said pulling away from him and covering her mouth with her hand. "Oh, that was a mistake! You should not have done that!" Julius dropped his arms to his side. "Forgive me." "But it is done now." "No, it can not be taken back," he sighed, looking at the ground. "I wish that it could." Julius said nothing in response. "I think I should go home now." "No, don’t let me stop you. You can walk a few paces in front of me. I won’t bother you." "You shall never bother me again. We can’t see each other everyday and have this type of thing happening. I can’t always be worrying…" "Aurelia! As you said, it was a mistake, and it will not happen again. I will tell no one. I give you my word, and my word is reliable. Tell me that you know this much about me." "I’ll accept you at your word, Julius," Aurelia said quietly. She was beginning to feel as if she had reacted unfairly to the situation: even though she was fairly sure Julius had initiated the kiss, she knew she had been just as much a participant. He had not threatened her in any way, nor would he ever, of which she was very aware. He gestured in front of him, and Aurelia quietly began to make her way once more, this time without Julius at her side.
***
"You’ve been spending a good deal of time with Augustus." "Mother allows him to visit, and he is one of the better men of my acquaintance." "I would have never thought you would give in so easily. Augustus is a doormat." "Claudia, that isn’t nice," Aurelia said laughing. "So, he does everything you tell him to do, and that gives you a sense of power, but I know you, and you would never be happy with a man who didn’t respect himself. Augustus has no pride." "Well, I will agree with you, and I have no intention of marrying him, but I think you are terribly biased by your brother’s cause." Claudia knew nothing of what had passed between Aurelia and Julius a few months prior, and since then Aurelia had become an expert at pretending the whole incident was no more real than the dream she had once had. Claudia looked seriously at her friend. "Perhaps I shouldn’t say anything, when I have not been given the private confidence of…but I think you are terribly blind, Aurelia." "Oh! Claudia, you really are ridiculous. I’m very observant, and I’m sure I don’t know what you are talking about." "No, you only see what you want to see." "I respect your opinion, but I honestly don’t know what to say." "Just promise me you won’t allow any proposals to be made concerning Augustus. Don’t give your parents the idea that you like him. He isn’t worthy of you," she said patting her hand. "All right. I promise. But who are you saving me for anyway, Claudia?" Claudia nervously laughed and turned her head away.
Claudia’s youngest brother, Lucius, who was twelve, ran into the room and Claudia grabbed him by the back of the tunic as he was passing, effectively stopping him. "You know not to run in here." "I’m sorry. Have you seen Marcus?" "Say hello to Aurelia, Lucius. Just because she is a good friend does not give you the right to be rude." "That’s all right. You’re obviously in a rush," Aurelia said smiling at him. Claudia shook her head; "Marcus is out riding with Julius. They left a while ago." "Why wasn’t I invited?" Lucius whined. "Because you are always right with Marcus, and he is an adult now, so it is better that he spend time with Julius. After awhile you’ll be a man too, and then Marcus will take you out riding. For now, please be good, and no running. Why don’t you go bother Davus," she said giving him a little shove out of the room.
Eventually Marcus and Julius came back from their ride, and the girls were notified of their return when Lucius ran through shouting that Marcus was back. The two older boys came into the atrium to say hello to Aurelia and Claudia, as good manners dictated. "Hello, Aurelia, Claudia," they said in turn. "Good afternoon, Julius, Marcus." As a young girl, Aurelia had never spent much time with Marcus; it had always been Julius, Claudia, and Aurelia. Now the exact opposite was true: if Aurelia was going to spend time with any of the boys, she preferred Marcus above them all. "Did you have any luck?" "Claudia, dear, you unknowingly imply that we are luckless. No, even worse, hunters whom are in need of luck!" Julius laughed. "Well, then forgive me, Julius," Claudia smiled. Marcus was more eager to describe their trials and tribulations.
"Oh boys! Claudia and I aren’t truly interested. We were only being polite. So, let us talk about something else," Aurelia said with a genuine smile, being in a exceptionally good mood. "Well, lately I’ve been very interested in personal dreams," Claudia suggested with a sly smile. "You mean our design?" Marcus asked. Claudia laughed, but managed to answer: "that’s not quite what I had in mind. More along the nocturnal sort." Aurelia threw Claudia a disagreeable look. "Those sort of dreams might prove to be the secret design of the gods," Julius offered, always interested in a discussion of the sacred. "Well, if you mean just sleep dreams, I don’t think I’ve had any of late," Marcus said innocently shrugging his shoulders. After seeing Aurelia’s reaction to further discussion, Julius eyed Aurelia, himself discomfited by her apparent embarrassment. "What about you, Aurelia…anything interesting?" Claudia said with a smirk on her face, seemingly trying to stifle a laugh. "Marcus, we promised that we would see that thing Lucius wanted to show us. Perhaps we should do that now. Will you please excuse us?" The two left the room, and Aurelia reached over to hit Claudia, who only laughed louder.
"Claudia, you shouldn’t tease Aurelia like you do. You embarrassed her in front of us, and that isn’t kind." "Oh, Julius, you know that Aurelia needs to take herself less seriously. No harm was done." "Nonetheless, I’ve never seen her publicly embarrass you. You shouldn’t tease her about Augustus." "Our family group is hardly ‘public,’ as you say. But now that you ask, I wasn’t teasing her about Augustus." "I wasn’t asking." Julius said, but Claudia failed to respond. "They are a pair, aren’t they? I had heard they were perhaps pledged to each other." "No, she swore to me today that she would never do that." "I would scold you for that, but then I know that Aurelia would never consent to do something to make you or anyone happy. So, she isn’t interested in Augustus?" "You show a great deal of interest in Aurelia’s personal affairs. I’ve never known you to be such a gossip, Julius." "Well, Aurelia is…" "Like family?" Claudia supplied, smilingly. "Yes, yes…like family."
***
Augustus handed Aurelia the next block. Sitting in the atrium of her parent’s villa, Aurelia was balancing tiny blocks on top of each other in an attempt at the new game Davus had taught to them. The last block sent the tower toppling. Aurelia laughed as the blocks clattered to the tiled floor. Her head darted up to see if Julius was noticing what fun she was having. He was indeed looking at her, but he looked very serious. He sat in a corner on a stone bench, removed from Marcus, Augustus, Claudia, and Aurelia. Julius was rarely with them these days, and when he was, Aurelia thought him very singular and quiet.
She stood up and made her way over to stand in front of him. Everyone else’s attention was drawn to Marcus’ tower, so she felt at ease saying what she would. "What do you mean sitting over here detached?" Julius continued to stare at her in response. She sat down next to him, and he finally replied: "You find much amusement in your game and companions, but it doesn’t follow that I would as well." "Always pretending to be mature and dignified. You aren’t a senator yet, Julius. Brighten up. And if you can’t, why do you bother to come at all?" Aurelia was beginning to feel very disagreeable, but she attributed her mood to the growing afternoon heat. "We barely see you as it is." "To your relief, I assume." Aurelia opened and closed her mouth, unable to think of a smart answer. Julius stood and turned to her: "whatever gives you pleasure, Aurelia." He left the atrium, and Aurelia rejoined the group, this time sitting close to Claudia, rather than her prior place by Augustus.
"Your brother has behaved oddly lately, Claudia, even for Julius. He seems out of spirits." Claudia glanced around to make sure that all of the boys were otherwise occupied, before pulling Aurelia closer. "Father says he must choose a bride; he says that things have gone on for long enough." Aurelia’s stomach turned over. "Well, what’s the problem? Why can’t he just choose?" she asked in a semblance of composure. Claudia looked strangely at Aurelia. "I don’t pretend to know." Glancing over at Augustus, she continued, "I think that your friend has something to do with it." Aurelia put her hand to her head in confusion. "Why do you continue with this, Claudia? Julius and I can’t stand each other!" Aurelia’s voice had raised in excitement, and she quickly looked around to make sure no one had heard her outburst. "But, Aurelia…" Forgetting to keep her voice down once again, Aurelia shouted: "no!" and then quickly left to collect herself.
She had gone outside, but as soon as she felt herself calm once again, she entered the garden gates. Her eyes met Julius’. "Excuse me, " he said. "I didn’t expect to meet you here." "I needed a little air," Aurelia said brushing back some stray hair from her face. "I thought you were enjoying yourself." The intensity of Julius’ stare made Aurelia turn her head, feeling a blush rise on her cheeks. But the idea of Julius being pressured to marry made her feel some pity for him, so she turned back to him, determined to lighten her mood and her smile; even men had their difficulties. "We all need time to ourselves, don’t we?" Julius looked down at the ground, saying hoarsely: "taking you as an example of late, I would presume that not to be the case." Aurelia waited for him to continue. "You are a very sociable girl, Aurelia." "What do you mean by that?" "I mean that you are a bright, outgoing girl, who people want to be with." "I suppose you mean that I am a flirt. Are you speaking of Augustus? Be clear." Julius colored. "He certainly is fond of you. You should watch how you behave with him, if your intentions are not what they appear." Aurelia tossed her head, but his remark smarted, having touched at some truth. She could not make herself meet his steady gaze. "Careful, Aurelia. You think you understand what you are about, but you don’t. Your coquettish behavior might land you in a marriage with this boy." Aurelia flushed red with embarrassment. "Excuse me," she barely managed as she slipped away from his outstretched hand, making her way to her bedchamber.
Aurelia kneeled down before the Penates, her thoughts still bringing color to her cheeks, but her tears had finally ceased. She hoped the goddess Minerva would guide her in the direction that was chosen for her. Julius’ words had opened her eyes to her own folly. She had mistaken her flirtation as power. Power over her sense of helplessness was what she sought, but in effect, she was encouraging boys to have their families to forever decide her future. If her father was sternly convinced a marriage should take place, Aurelia would have little say in the matter. Her flirtatious behavior would hardly help her cause. At first, Julius’ words had angered her, but now she saw them in a different light. Claudia’s hinting occurred to her and she touched her cheek in contemplation. Julius had spoken as one who was concerned and his face had spoken more.
***
