“When are you planning to tell her?”
Paul sighed deeply. “That’s the problem. I can’t say it to her face. When I get back to Vermont I’ll write to her.” He gave Gabriel a resentful look. “I’m sure that will make you happy.”
“I don’t take pleasure in her suffering, despite what you think.” Gabriel looked down at the platinum band on his left hand. “I love her.”
Paul’s dark eyes shifted to the wedding ring.
The Professor continued, “Your friendship is important to her. She’ll be hurt.”
“It’s time to move on.”
“Will you tell her that?”
“I’m not going to lie. It’s going to kill me to tell her the truth, but I will.”
“That’s very noble.” An admiring tone crept into Gabriel’s voice. “Perhaps I should persuade you to change your mind.”
“You can’t.”
A long look passed between Paul and his former professor.
“I’ve misjudged you, Paul. And for that I’m sorry.”
“I’m not doing this for you. I’m sure as hell not doing this so you’ll read my dissertation and write me a recommendation letter. I’ll tell Katherine that I spoke to you and you declined.”
Paul nodded at Gabriel and began to walk toward the college.
“Mr. Norris,” Gabriel called.
He stopped and slowly moved to face the Professor.
“I always intended to be an external reader, whether you continued your friendship with Julianne or not. Your research stands on its own merits.” He extended his hand.
Paul considered this for a moment, then strode toward him. They shook hands.
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
A look passed between the two men that was reminiscent of the look that warriors gave after a battle in which both sides took heavy losses.
Paul was the first to speak.
“I’m not going to interfere in your marriage. But if I learn that you’ve broken her heart again, we’re going to have a problem.”
“If I break Julianne’s heart, I’ll deserve it.”
“Good.” Paul grinned. “Can we stop touching each other now?”
Gabriel dropped his hand as if it were on fire. “Absolutely.”
Chapter Seventeen
Later that afternoon, Julia and Gabriel checked into the Randolph Hotel. They were supposed to meet Katherine and Paul for dinner. But Paul said that he needed to speak to Professor Picton alone and, apologizing, asked the Emersons if they’d mind canceling their dinner plans. So the Emersons were left to dine alone.
After a quiet meal in the Randolph’s elegant dining room, they went upstairs to their suite.
“Are you glad the conference is over?” Gabriel held the door open for his wife.
“Very glad.” Immediately, Julia took off her suit jacket, draping it over a chair. She sat on the edge of the bed and kicked off her high heels.
She retrieved a square of chocolate from atop one of the pillows and unwrapped it, popping the sweet into her mouth. “They didn’t give us chocolates at Magdalen College.”
She gazed fondly in the direction of the en-suite. “’I’m kind of in love with the heated towel rack in the bathroom. We need one of those in Cambridge.”
Gabriel laughed. “I’ll see what I can do.”
“But I wouldn’t trade our nights at Magdalen for anything. If we come back to Oxford, I hope we can stay there again.”
“Of course.” He kissed the top of her head. “Magdalen is a special place, but the accommodations are a bit Spartan for my tastes. I think if we split our time between here and there, we’d be doing well.”
“I had hoped I’d see a Narnian ghost during our visit.”
“You won’t find one outside Magdalen. Although I’m told that the actor who played Inspector Morse haunts the bar downstairs. We could go and take a look.”
“I think I’ve had enough of people for one day. I need a hot bath, a hot towel, and an early night.”
“Do you feel differently now?” He extended his hand to cup her cheek.
“About?”
“About grad school.” He shrugged. “About anything.”
“I worked hard on the paper, but I was also lucky. The audience didn’t bring their pitchforks.”
“They weren’t pushovers. I know that crowd. They don’t suffer fools.”
“I noticed that based on the way they turned on Christa during the question period. I’ve never seen that happen before.” Julia shuddered.
“I’ve seen it. And worse.”
“I wonder where she went.”
Gabriel snorted. “Apparently, Pacciani escorted her from the building. I suppose Katherine really did put the fear of God in him. He was furious.”
Julia looked up at her husband curiously. “Don’t you think it’s strange that Paul didn’t want to have dinner with us? He seemed to be looking forward to it earlier.”
Gabriel traced a light finger down her nose. “Maybe Katherine isn’t happy with his dissertation and he wanted to smooth things over without an audience.”
“Maybe.”