‘After that debacle, chérie, we need a distraction,’ Marguerite said to Emily when Goldstein had stormed out. ‘Let us have a Scrivener lesson.’
Emily agreed readily. As frustrating as learning new technology might be, it would still be a relief from the impossible Curzon situation.
They worked for an hour, after which Emily felt like the Far Side cartoon character who asks to be excused because his brain is full. It was time for coffee anyway, so she and Marguerite decided to adjourn to the Paradox. But as they left Marguerite’s office, Emily saw Douglas Curzon entering the office of his erstwhile wife.
With a significant glance at Marguerite, Emily stole close to Taylor’s door. If she was going to embark on a new career as an eavesdropper, she might as well make the most of it. She must be developing a suspicious mind – she couldn’t help wondering if there was more to the situation between Taylor and Douglas than Douglas had led her to believe.
The door closed behind Douglas but then drifted open again. The latch must be faulty. That explained why the door hadn’t been fully closed when Daniel was in with her earlier.
‘Douglas,’ they heard Taylor say, ‘I thought we’d said everything we had to say.’
‘You may have. I have not.’
Emily hardly recognized the normally urbane, courteous tones of Douglas’s voice. It rang with an edge of barely controlled rage.
‘Oh, come now, Dougie. Is that painting really so important to you?’
‘You know it is. It’s been in my family for generations. It was painted by one of my ancestors depicting another. You have no claim to it whatsoever – legal or moral.’
‘But possession is nine-tenths of the law, sweetie. You know that.’
‘Not in this case. The painting isn’t legally under dispute. You simply stole it. And now you’re holding it for ransom.’
‘So sue me. Bring criminal charges against me. Go ahead. After all, you have nothing to lose.’ Her voice dripped sarcasm. Could she have some hold over Douglas, as she did over Richard? Was this the way she got away with everything in her life?
Emily longed to see into the room, but her scruples would not bend that far. She pictured Taylor standing hand on hip, smiling provocatively, while Douglas’s handsome face contorted with rage.
‘Taylor, I swear to you, if you don’t hand over that painting, I’ll—’
‘You’ll what?’ Her taunting voice suddenly dropped to a seductive whisper. ‘Crush me in your passionate embrace? Rip off my clothes? Throw me over the desk and screw me silly?’
Emily could hear Douglas’s rough and labored breath. Could it be that he was still attracted to Taylor? Was he actually longing to do just that?
The taunt came back with a harder edge. ‘You’re not man enough, Douglas, and we both know it. You’d better just accept that I’ve won. The painting is my trophy, and I’m keeping it.’
Douglas did not reply. Sensing an end to the conversation, Emily and Marguerite darted back to the safety of Marguerite’s doorway and peeked out as Douglas emerged. Emily watched him take a few deep breaths, no doubt willing his color to recede and his shaking hands to still. When he seemed more or less back to normal, the two women came into the hallway as if they had never suspected his presence.
Emily hailed him. ‘Good morning, Douglas. Though from your expression I’m guessing your morning hasn’t been any better than ours.’
‘That woman is going to be the death of me,’ he said with a failed attempt at lightness. ‘Or vice versa. She refuses to budge an inch.’ He collected himself enough to notice Marguerite. Men always did notice Marguerite.
Emily hastened to make the introduction. ‘Marguerite knows all about our attempt to get Taylor fired,’ she said. ‘But I’m afraid we’ve had a major setback this morning, just when we thought we were on the cusp of victory.’ She gave Douglas a thumbnail sketch of the morning’s events without specifying the nature of Taylor’s threat to Richard.
Douglas rolled his eyes and threw up his hands. ‘Typical Taylor. She always makes sure to have something she can hold over anyone who might be a hindrance. In my case, it’s this heirloom I want her to return. It looks like I’ll have to choose between that and my entire fortune.’
Emily marveled at his ability to speak so lightly of a situation that had to all appearances driven him to the brink only moments before. Self-control was one thing, but she preferred Luke’s transparent honesty.
‘You should hire Saul Goldstein as your lawyer,’ Marguerite said. ‘I do not know if he does divorces, but he is out for Taylor’s blood. If anyone could defeat her in court, I think it would be he.’
‘That’s not a bad thought,’ Douglas said with a closer, more appreciative look at Marguerite. ‘My current lawyer is an old family friend, and I half suspect Taylor has got her hooks into him. He doesn’t seem to be giving me his all.’
Emily was having second thoughts about fixing Marguerite up with Douglas, but Marguerite was forewarned as well. She could take care of herself, and her flirtations had sometimes proved useful in the past. ‘We were just going to the Paradox for coffee,’ Emily said to Douglas. ‘Would you like to join us?’
‘I’d be delighted.’ He turned toward the staircase and offered them each an elbow. ‘With the two most charming ladies on campus on my arm, I can face down the world.’
Douglas insisted on paying for all the coffees, and they sat at one of the rickety tables. Marguerite always refused to sit on the Paradox couches as it was impossible to maintain a ladylike posture against their sagging seats and beaten backs.
Douglas and Marguerite soon became enmeshed in a happy if not very serious flirtation. Marguerite could flirt for France, even in a parka in a snowstorm surrounded by hungry polar bears. Emily allowed her attention to wander out the window. She saw Daniel approaching around the corner, and soon he entered the café.
He ordered his coffee, then turned and noticed Emily. He didn’t approach but gazed at her with an intensity that told her he wanted to talk to her alone. She joined him on a couch. Douglas and Marguerite were too absorbed in each other to notice her move.
‘Do you have any news?’ he asked her in a low voice.
‘Yes, but I’m afraid it’s not all good. We played the recording for McClintock, and he agreed to confront Curzon. But she’s got something on him that made him back down. Svetlana’s father was there, and he’s decided to go ahead and sue Curzon. It’ll be hell for Svetlana, I’m afraid, but I don’t see what we can do to stop him.’
Daniel dropped his head into his hands and pulled at his hair with both fists. ‘I’m at the end of my rope,’ he said. ‘This is going to tear Sveta and me to pieces.’ He dropped his hands and looked up at her with anguished eyes. ‘If this goes to court, it’ll kill Sveta. She’s so sensitive, you have no idea. To have her personal business paraded in front of the world – it’ll just kill her.’
Emily searched Daniel’s face with concern. His haunted eyes darted around the room, and his hands shook on his cup, making his coffee slosh. She didn’t know much about epilepsy, but she feared these might be signs of an oncoming seizure. Emily suspected Svetlana was actually the stronger of the two – much stronger than Daniel gave her credit for. It was Daniel whom this whole impossible situation might destroy.
‘Perhaps Mr Goldstein will be able to avoid a trial, or at least avoid involving Svetlana. Surely he’d want to keep her out of it if possible.’
‘But it’s her grade he cares about. Curzon could coerce every male student in the whole college and he wouldn’t care, as long as it didn’t touch his precious little girl. No way will he keep her out of it. Or me. And when it’s all over – if it’s ever over – he’ll find some way to separate the two of us. Take her back east, make her marry a Jewish lawyer. He probably has a junior partner all picked out for her already.’
Emily covered his shaking hand with her own, her voice gentle. ‘Daniel, this is twenty-first-century America. No parent can force his daughter to marry someone she doesn’t want to marry. Nor can he prevent her from marrying the person of her choice – you’re both of age. You may have to run away together, but you wouldn’t be the first couple to do that.’
He shook his head, clinging to his despair as if it were his only friend. ‘You don’t know Sveta. She loves her dad in spite of everything. She’ll never go against him.’
‘I think you underestimate her love for you. I’m quite sure it’s you she’ll hang on to at all costs.’
Daniel merely heaved a sigh and struggled to his feet, wavering as if he were tipsy – but Emily knew it was stress and illness that caused his instability. ‘I’ve got to get to work. Even if I can’t have Sveta, I still have to get my degree. My mother and sister are counting on me.’
Emily stood and caught his elbow as he seemed about to fall. ‘Daniel, I’m begging you, get some rest. You really don’t look well at all. One afternoon off won’t ruin your thesis.’
‘No.’ He shook his head slowly, eyes half-glazed, hardly seeming to take in her words. ‘Got to work.’ He staggered out in the direction of the library.
Emily called Svetlana’s cell to warn her to look out for Daniel, but she didn’t answer. Probably in the midst of being harangued by her father. She left a message, then said a prayer for Daniel. His guardian angel would need to work overtime in the days and weeks to come.