The next morning, Svetlana arrived in the library alone. Her usually pale face was pasty white except for the purple shadows under her eyes. She looked on the brink of collapse.
‘Svetlana, what’s wrong?’ Emily asked. ‘You look as if you haven’t slept for a week.’
‘It feels more like a month. But really it was only one night.’ She ran a hand over her hair, brushing back the wisps that had escaped from her normally neat chignon. ‘I was at the infirmary with Daniel.’
‘Oh dear! Was he injured?’
‘Not exactly.’ She hesitated. ‘Can I tell you something in confidence?’ A little laugh escaped her throat. ‘I don’t know why I ask. I’ve already burdened you with all my other troubles.’
‘Of course. Don’t worry about it. I’m happy to help if I can.’
‘The thing is … Daniel had a seizure. All that drama with Curzon must have brought it on. His epilepsy has been more or less under control for a while, but when he gets really stressed …’
‘I see.’ Emily’s heart twisted in sympathy. She’d seen seizures before and knew how terrifying they could be. ‘Is this the first time you’ve witnessed it?’
‘Second. And I’m so afraid it won’t be the last. Life is just not going smoothly for him right now.’
‘Isn’t he on any medication?’
She gave a sigh that seemed to come from her toes. ‘He used to be as a kid, but now he can’t afford it. He only has the school insurance, and that won’t cover it. I’ve offered to help, but he won’t accept it.’
Emily pondered. ‘I can understand why he wouldn’t want to accept help from his girlfriend. But do you think he’d accept it from me? I’m independently wealthy, you know. The cost would be nothing to me.’
Svetlana screwed up her eyes. ‘I doubt it. He’s so proud.’
‘Well, maybe I can wangle it so it looks like it comes from the college. Then he couldn’t turn it down, right?’
‘I suppose not. That would be so wonderful if you could manage it.’
‘I’ll see what I can do.’ Svetlana lingered, so Emily probed further. ‘What kind of seizures does he have?’
‘Convulsive. What they used to call grand mal. Last night’s wasn’t too severe, but when they’re really bad they can leave him weak and disoriented for hours, days even. I hate to think what could happen if he had a bad one when no one was around.’
Emily shuddered. ‘I’d send him my best wishes for recovery, but I’m guessing the confidence extends to not letting him know you’ve told me?’
Svetlana’s eyes widened in panic. ‘Oh, yes, please. For God’s sake, don’t breathe a word to Daniel. He’d die of shame if he thought anyone knew besides the infirmary staff and me. He would have hidden it from me if he could.’
Emily drew her finger across her lips. ‘Mum’s the word.’ But that wouldn’t prevent her praying for Daniel. His malady was already known to God.
When she broke for lunch, Emily stopped by the college infirmary on her way to the dining hall. Miriam Zimmerman, the doctor in charge, was out to lunch, so Emily left word she wanted to discuss something with her and continued on her way.
Absorbed in her own thoughts, as she joined the main path she collided with someone and dropped the book she was carrying. A deep, British-accented voice said, ‘I beg your pardon,’ and she looked up to see a tall man of about her own age whom she didn’t recognize.
‘I’m so sorry, I wasn’t looking where I was going.’ She smiled up at him.
‘No harm done.’ He stooped to pick up her book, then handed it to her, brushing her fingers in the process. He returned her smile, and their eyes locked for a moment. Emily felt a frisson she hadn’t felt since first reencountering Luke the summer before, after their separation of thirty-five years.
She pulled her hand back a little too quickly. Luke was still Luke, and no frisson with a stranger could change that.
‘Douglas Curzon,’ he said. ‘Are you a professor here?’
‘Sort of. I’m on sabbatical, possibly on the verge of retirement. Just here for Paideia to do some research.’ Then the name sank in. ‘Curzon? Any relation to Taylor Curzon?’
He grimaced. ‘Her soon-to-be-ex-husband. For my sins.’
Emily couldn’t stop her astonishment being reflected in her face. ‘Goodness! I had no idea she had a husband. Soon-to-be-ex or otherwise. She certainly—’ Emily bit her lip.
‘Doesn’t act like it?’ he finished for her with a wry smile. ‘No. I’m not surprised. She never did, actually. Which is the main reason for the ex.’
Feeling her face flush, Emily was about to make a tactful retreat, but Douglas said, ‘May I have the honor of your name?’
‘Oh! I’m sorry, how rude. Emily Cavanaugh.’
He took her hand and held it a second rather than shaking it. ‘Pleased to make your acquaintance, Ms Cavanaugh. I was just about to get some lunch. Would you by any chance care to join me?’
Emily was a bit startled by this forwardness, especially from an Englishman; she would have expected more of the famous British reserve. One instinct told her to flee from this budding attraction, which appeared to be dangerously mutual. But another whispered that this could be a golden opportunity to dig up more dirt about Taylor that could be useful in getting her fired – or at least officially cautioned.
She gave Douglas her best smile. ‘Thanks, I’d like that.’
They continued the short distance to the Commons. Emily chose a premade salad so she could dash to the cash register ahead of Douglas, thereby averting any awkwardness that might potentially result from him offering to pay for her meal. Any suggestion that this was a date was to be strenuously avoided.
Once they were seated, she asked with all the innocence she could muster, ‘So what brings you to campus?’
The grimace returned, self-deprecating but with an edge of resentment smoldering in his eyes. ‘The settlement.’ He paused and peered at her cautiously. ‘You’re not a particular friend of Taylor’s, are you?’
‘Heavens, no. I don’t think she has any women friends.’
‘No, she wouldn’t. Then I may speak freely. Taylor is being stubbornly unreasonable. I would have preferred to leave everything to the lawyers, but on one particular point she won’t budge. I’m certain she wants me to beg in person.’
Emily swallowed her astonishment with a bite of salad. ‘It must be a point of great importance to you.’
‘It is. Sentimental more than financial. She’s holding out only to torture me. Honestly, I’d pay everything I have – which, between us, is considerable – to get rid of the woman if it were merely a question of money. Don’t tell her that, though. She’d take me up on it.’
Emily approached her next point with caution. ‘It wouldn’t by any chance have anything to do with the icon hanging in her office, would it?’
‘Icon?’ Douglas’s surprise was genuine. ‘Oh, no. What she’s keeping from me is a secular painting, a family heirloom. I don’t know anything about an icon.’
‘I only asked because it looks quite valuable. Medieval Russian, if I’m not mistaken. And it doesn’t seem like the kind of thing she’d be attached to in any personal way.’
He snorted. ‘Certainly not for religious reasons. And probably not for its artistic value, either. The only aesthetic objects Taylor seems to have any use for are handsome young men.’
‘Yes, I’ve noticed that,’ Emily said dryly. ‘In fact, she’s become rather notorious on campus in that regard.’
‘Students?’
‘At the moment she’s after a student I take a particular interest in. A purely academic interest, you understand.’
He nodded.
‘It’s imperative we get her to leave him alone. Her pursuit of him is threatening not only his work but his girlfriend’s academic career. Not to mention his own health.’ She stopped herself before revealing any more. She hadn’t mentioned Daniel’s name, but Douglas might easily come to learn the identity of Taylor’s current prey.
‘Do you know anything that could help us get her sanctioned? Or, ideally, fired? It’s almost impossible to get students to speak out, she has them so intimidated. And then it’s only their word against hers. We need some hard evidence of misconduct.’
‘Hmm.’ He stroked his smooth-shaven chin with an elegant hand. ‘Evidence of sexual harassment, I assume you mean? Not just a consensual affair with a student. These days that wouldn’t be likely to lead to any consequences, unless the student was underage.’
Emily sighed. ‘Bede is notoriously lax on the issue of consensual affairs between professors and students. But in this case, it is harassment, yes. Coercion by threat of academic consequences, primarily.’
‘Right. I can’t say off the top of my head. I know of such things in the past, certainly, but whether I can find hard evidence is another question. I’ll have to give it some thought.’
‘Thank you. I’d really appreciate it, and so would D … the student in question.’
He pushed a paper napkin toward her and produced an expensive-looking pen from his jacket pocket. ‘May I have your number so I can let you know what I find?’
She hesitated, sensing an ulterior motive. But after all, if he did ask to see her in a more private setting, she need only refuse. He didn’t seem like stalker material.
She wrote the number of her little-used cell phone on the napkin and handed it back to him, along with the pen. He gave her his number in return. ‘Thanks again,’ she said. ‘And now I’d better get back to work.’
She scurried off before he could offer to accompany her.
At lunchtime the next day, Emily waited a few minutes after Daniel and Svetlana had left the library before she headed to the Commons, so she could sit alone without appearing rude. But when she entered the dining hall she saw Daniel, Svetlana, and her father sitting together – Goldstein looking angry as usual, Svetlana downcast, and Daniel both resentful and glum. Svetlana caught sight of Emily and sent her a look of desperation. Emily felt herself being sucked into the vortex of their combined emotions as her feet pulled her in their direction.
‘Good afternoon,’ she said with forced brightness as she settled herself at the table. ‘How is everyone today?’
Svetlana managed a weak smile. ‘Better,’ she said with a sideways glance at her boyfriend, which Emily interpreted to mean that Daniel was recovering, at least physically, from his seizure. Daniel himself neither spoke nor lifted his eyes; Goldstein merely scowled.
‘Have you made any progress in your investigation, Mr Goldstein?’
‘Interviewed some students. Couldn’t get anyone to agree to testify, let alone bring charges, but a few would at least talk off the record.’
‘What did they say?’
‘Same story from all the boys. She tried to seduce them. If they went along, they got As in her classes. If they didn’t, they failed.’
‘Did you find any other women in Svetlana’s position?’
‘Not exactly. But not a single female student I talked to got above a B. Seems pretty suspicious. Subject like language and literature, you’d expect more girls to excel than boys.’
‘That’s been my experience as a teacher, yes.’ It might sound sexist, but it was the truth. ‘Though I have had some brilliant male students. Daniel included.’ She shot him an encouraging smile, but he barely flicked his eyes in her direction.
Goldstein met her declaration with a deeper scowl.
‘You’ll keep digging, I presume?’ she asked him.
‘Goes without saying. Didn’t get where I am by giving up that easily.’ He contemplated his sandwich, then put it aside with a grimace. ‘What about you? Did you talk to the head of the division about reviewing Sveta’s work?’
Emily swallowed. ‘Actually, I’m going to need a little more time with that. The division head, Richard McClintock, is not particularly well disposed toward me right now. I’ve asked my friend Marguerite Grenier from the French department to broach the subject with him. I hope to have an answer for you soon.’
‘See that you do.’ He spoke as if to an underling, but Emily suppressed her resentment; it would do Svetlana no good for her to stand on her dignity.
Goldstein rose abruptly. ‘Got an appointment with another student. Sveta, meet me back here in an hour.’ He stalked off, leaving his dirty dishes for his daughter to bus.
‘Thank you for all you’re doing, Prof— Emily,’ Svetlana said when he was out of earshot. ‘I don’t care about the grade in itself, but if it could be a means of bringing Professor Curzon’s activities into the light …’
‘Of course. This is a matter of the good of the whole college. I’m committed to seeing it through.’
Daniel opened his mouth to say something at last, but before he could get out the first word, Sidney Sharpe appeared at the table, as if from nowhere. He seemed to have Jeeves’s gift of oozing imperceptibly in and out of a room.
‘Hello, my little chickadees,’ he said in a poor imitation of W.C. Fields. ‘How’s tricks? And who was the angry gentleman who exited just now?’
‘That was my father,’ Svetlana said with icy dignity. Clearly she felt enough loyalty to defend her father against attack from a stranger, even though she had small enough cause to be happy with him herself just now.
Sidney’s bushy eyebrows, which contrasted oddly with his slicked-back hair, rose in a mocking tilt. ‘Bit of a helicopter parent, is he? Come all the way from Boston to make sure his baby girl’s OK?’
Svetlana drew herself up, but Daniel spoke before she could muster a reply. ‘Mr Goldstein’s trying to make a case against Curzon. For sexual harassment and unfair grading policies.’
Sidney’s eyes narrowed, and in that moment Emily could have sworn their pupils took on an elliptical shape like those of a cat or a poisonous snake. It must have been a trick of the light. In a second he returned to his usual slightly mocking demeanor.
‘Making a play for you, is she, Daniel? Not surprising. You are the gloomy Byronic hero type women seem to go for. Though why that is I’ll never understand.’
Daniel shot him a disgusted look but did not deign to answer. Sidney glanced from him to Svetlana, then leaned back in his chair.
‘You know, I just might be able to help you with your problem,’ he said.
‘How on earth could you do that?’ Svetlana burst out in spite of herself.
‘I have my little ways. Don’t you worry about a thing, chickadees. Sidney is on the case.’ He fell to his lunch with a self-satisfied smile.
Daniel mumbled, ‘The only thing that could help is for Curzon to die.’
‘Oh, Daniel!’ Svetlana exclaimed. ‘Don’t say that. I know she’s a terrible person, but she’s still a person. You can’t wish her dead.’
‘Why not? Look at all the lives she’s ruined. We’d all be better off without her.’
‘So we get her fired. Not killed.’
‘And then she moves on to disrupt some other college in the same way. That’s no solution. Why shouldn’t one person die for the good of the community?’
‘That’s what the Sanhedrin said about Christ,’ Emily said quietly. ‘In fact, that’s been the justification tyrants throughout history have given for getting rid of anyone who opposes them – even up to and including genocide.’
Daniel reddened. ‘That’s different. Jesus wasn’t harming people; he was just undermining the Sanhedrin’s authority. Same with all those tyrants and their victims. Curzon is a genuine menace.’
‘I’m not disputing that. But our system of justice exists to remove people like that from society. We don’t have to resort to vigilante killing to get rid of them.’
Sidney cleared his throat in that particular way that is meant to announce a communication of some profundity. ‘I wouldn’t say that one must die for the sake of the community. The community can take care of itself. But I would say that the inferior must give way to the superior. Daniel is a superior man, and a worm like Curzon should not be allowed to stand in his way.’
Svetlana’s eyes went wide, and Daniel sat up straight for the first time. ‘That’s not the point at all,’ he said. ‘No one person has more intrinsic right to exist than another. We’re all …’
He hesitated, and Emily finished the sentence she suspected he couldn’t consciously endorse, though at his core he knew it to be true. ‘We’re all made in the image of God. Equal in his sight. That’s exactly why no one of us individually has the right to decide whether another person lives or dies.’
Sidney snorted. ‘God is dead. Nietzsche proved that over a century ago.’
‘He asserted it. He didn’t prove it. Nietzsche saw God as a social construct, and in that sense I’d have to say he’s right: God as a social construct is dead because people are no longer willing to believe in him, or more precisely to follow him. But God himself is real and transcendent and infinite. He cannot die, because he is the source of life itself.’
Svetlana nodded agreement, while Daniel returned to slumping over his tray, presumably too conflicted in his own heart to either refute or support her argument. But Sidney simply smiled a smug, superior smile. ‘How quaint to see an educated person in the twenty-first century embracing such outmoded ideas. I’m not surprised you’re heading toward retirement, Professor.’
Emily bridled but forced herself to remain calm. ‘I seem to remember some graffiti from the women’s restroom in the library back in my day. I suppose they’ve replaced those stalls long ago. Someone wrote, God is dead. – Nietzsche. Nietzsche is dead. – God. I don’t think it was meant seriously, but you do have to consider – two thousand years after Christ’s death, the church he founded is billions strong all over the world, and Christians are still being martyred for their faith every day. Little more than a century after Nietzsche’s demise, you’ll find very few people who’d be willing to die for the ideas he propounded. I’d be surprised if you could find even one.’
‘Of course no one would die for them, because the one who believes with Nietzsche is the one who deserves to live. The Übermensch.’
Emily knew an unpersuadable audience when she saw one. ‘We’re talking in circles here. The point is, we do need to get rid of Taylor Curzon, but we need to do that through the proper channels, by getting her fired. I would like to say for the record, I’m sure neither of you is serious about taking the law into your own hands. Are you?’
Sidney gave a smarmy smile. ‘Of course not. We’re just having a philosophical discussion. That’s what Bedies do.’
Daniel merely grunted, but when Svetlana pressed his hand he grudgingly shook his head.
‘If it came to the point,’ Svetlana said, ‘I’m sure Daniel wouldn’t actually be able to take another person’s life. Would you, Daniel?’
‘No,’ he mumbled. ‘Too much of a damn coward in the end.’
‘It isn’t cowardly to refrain from doing evil,’ Emily said. ‘Sometimes it takes all the courage in the world.’