Caeseria was bored. Despite having a lengthy title such as Vicarius of Gaul and Proconsular of Lugdunensis, she was still at a loss with what to do with herself. Sewing and weaving held no interest for a woman like Caeseria. She preferred to get involved in conversations more worthy of men, and her brothers had a hard time dealing with it. In fact, so had her husband, which is why she was now happily divorced with no children. When the posting to Gaul had come up, Caeseria had leapt upon the idea and packed immediately. She was now in the process of wrapping up a walking tour of the palace and grounds, mostly in an attempt to catch the servants lazing about. After being here for four months, she knew the slaves had already figured out what her morning walks were about – but that was half the fun. She wandered into the vestibule and found her guest Q. Cinna Cocceius looking perplexed. He was intent on staring at a small statue of Jupiter. She briefly rubbed her left index finger. On it was a bronze ring bearing Jupiter's thunderbolt which was a sign of protection. It was her only token from a love struck young man who had gone off to join the army six years back. She was now twenty-five and the God's only knew what had happened to that young man she had waved goodbye to.
"Cinna, good morning! Is anything the matter?" she asked.
the Amicus principis sighed deeply. "No, nothing's the matter. Tell me, how old do I look?"
Caeseria opened her mouth and then closed it again. A small voice in her brain told her the gesture appeared rude. Still, how to answer without giving offence? She took a wild guess and subtracted five years for good measure. "Not a day over thirty…six, I must say."
Cinna beamed at Caeseria. Inwardly she took a deep breath. "Shall we perhaps visit the gardens?" she asked, glad that this particular line of questioning was over for now.