A Hitch in my Plans

My idea of regular meetings with Julia, Carti and Tanaquil was dealt a blow. My husband was diagnosed with leukemia-- the nasty kind. My time was filled with doctors, hospital personnel and managing the homefront by myself. Finally we did get to meet. Julia was of great comfort. She shared her own 'husbands in trouble'. Her accounts seemed to soothe me. She survived the illness and death of two husbands. And even though they are not at all like mine I feel a connection.
"My first was Marcellus", she said. "A cousin destined to succeed my father Augustus as Emperor of Rome. Marcellus was little more than a boy. I was a starry eyed teenage." As it developed Marcellus fell victim to his sense of entitlement and became what many called 'an overindulged brat'. He never had the chance to outgrow adolescent foolery. While his Uncle Augustus was away on empire business, Marcellus fell ill. His illness lingered and worsened. He died. A common belief of 'foul play' permeated the city. The notion was that Augustus's wife Livia had a hand in his death. It was known far and wide that Livia wanted her son, Tiberius, from a previous marriage to succeed my father, Augustus. And it was Livia who nursed Marcellus through a simple stomach upset, turned bad and then terminal.
"I was devastated," Julia said. "For though the marriage was arranged, I treasured my time with Marcellus. I think what I liked most was the sex. He was my first sex partner. And the sex was phenomenal. Livia accused me of harlot behavior."
But Marcellus died. Tata gave me little mourning time before he married me to Agrippa, a man of Tata's age, his colleague in establishing the Empire after so many years of civil war. Tata needed Agrippa and to keep him in service he needed me to be in Agrippa's service.
Agrippa was not the lover Marcellus was, but he was fertile. Five children we had in short order, two girls and three boys with claims to the emperorship. His death came after an illness, at an age more appropriate for death than Marcellus's was."
As we talked I was so engrossed I could hardly wait for more. We decided--we even vowed to meet often-- as my time around my husband's chemo allows.