Chapter Nine
We are certainly not to relinquish the evidence of experiments for the sake of dreams and vain fictions of our own devising.
—Isaac Newton
Hustling out to the lush green quadrangle of Nevile’s Court while brushing the remaining crumbs from a scone off my cravat and making sure my gown, gold tassels, and cap along with the rest of my disguise were firmly in place, I finally caught up with my tutor inside the Wren Library at the top of the black marble staircase.
He strode down the black-and-white diagonal-checkered floors, light streaming in from the huge windows on the east and west sides.
I felt a brief twinge of disappointment that only men were able to enjoy a place that most women, if given the chance, might love as well.
One day, perhaps.
I swallowed my usual rush of wonder at being within these hallowed halls with their polished woodwork topped by plaster busts of philosophers and mathematicians, filled with so much knowledge and history.
The walls on each side of the long rectangular room were lined with oak bookshelves all the way up to the sills.
At evenly spaced intervals, elegant racks winged out toward the middle of the room, forming three-sided, book-filled celles, or nooks, where a person could sit to read or study.
On each side, there were fifteen celles, which included a reading desk, a lamp, and benches.
Right now, some of them were filled but most were empty.
St. Clair kept walking toward the gorgeous stained glass window at the south end.
There were two rooms on either side that had doors, unlike the rest of the open study nooks, and he walked into the one on the west side before closing the door behind us when I followed.
The room was small, and his presence seemed to dwarf it. It didn’t help that all I could smell was him—that divine chocolate-and-snow scent that made me feel warm and breathless. Even though his frosty demeanor was the opposite of warm.
“Sit,” he said, indicating the wooden bench closest to the door and walking to the chair on the other side of the reading desk. I jumped at the terseness of the abrupt command. “What are the three laws of motion?” he asked without preamble and without waiting for me to get settled.
Still standing, I gathered my thoughts for a second. “Er, firstly, an object will not change its motion until another force pushes or pulls it. Secondly, the force on an object is equal to its mass times its acceleration. And thirdly, for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.”
Thick brows rose as he leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms. “Excellent. Of all the theories covered in the book, which is the one that stood out the most to you?”
My brain decided right at that moment to go blank as I sagged down into the seat opposite him. “In Principia?”
“Were you reading some other book perhaps, Lord Ansel?” The slightest hint of amusement in his words had me peering up at him, considering it wasn’t a tone he typically reserved for me or how he’d started this session.
Usually, he was blunt, mocking, or caustic. Or all three. But there was no mockery on his face, only what appeared to be genuine interest in my answer. I frowned. Was this a trick?
“Er, no, sir?”
“Then which idea in that book was most appealing to you?”
I composed myself and exhaled a breath. “Considering the main theory pertains to the law of universal gravitation, then I would have to say that what appealed to me the most was understanding how motion and gravity impact the movement of visible celestial bodies like planets, comets, the Earth, and the moon.” His intense gaze bored through me as I went on.
“Every object in the universe pulls on every other object with the force we know as gravity. When things are closer together, the pull is stronger, and when they are farther apart, it’s weaker.
The bigger the objects, like the sun, the stronger the pull.
Gravity keeps the planets in orbit around the sun. ”
“So, everything has gravity,” he concluded.
“Yes, even the two of us, to each other and to the Earth. The Earth keeps us grounded, and though we have some pull on it as well, it would be impossible to feel because of the size of it versus the size of us.”
The image of standing chest to chest with him floated through my brain. The truth was I was already caught in his orbit, like an obsessed entity circling the biggest, most beautiful star in the sky. I don’t know why the image made my knees weak, but it did.
“You mentioned having a particular interest in astronomy.” When I nodded vigorously to hide my inconvenient attraction, he dragged the book toward him and flicked through the pages. “That’s why I chose this material for our discussion. So how much of this did you actually manage to reread?”
I blinked in wonder—he’d chosen the subject matter because he knew it would be of interest to me? I wanted to be suspicious of his motives, but something fluttered to life in my chest, something that felt too much like tiny butterfly wings beating.
No, no, no.
I squashed the feeling instantly—Isaac Newton was practically a staple in mathematics, physics, and astronomy. Perhaps St. Clair simply wanted to get the measure of me to see how serious I was, not because he cared about my interests.
“Most of it,” I admitted and flushed. “I’m a fast reader.”
A small chuckle left his mouth. “You know, I find myself consistently surprised by you, Lord Ansel. You never struck me as particularly devoted to study when we crossed paths in the past. In fact, you seemed to be quite the scoundrel, more interested in social intrigues with your mates and being properly idle than receiving an actual education. Tell me, what changed?”
My breath left me in a hiss. It wasn’t as though Ansel was planning to return to Cambridge, considering he’d already fulfilled the residency requirements, and St. Clair wasn’t wrong about my cousin’s proclivities, so in the interests of nurturing this fledgling camaraderie, I opted for honesty.
“When I was younger, I used to be afraid of the dark, but my mother told me that it’s only in the true depths of darkness that one can really see the stars.
I remember looking for them then, these tiny celestial bodies that transformed the night sky, and I was fascinated with how they came to be.
I wanted to know more about them. Perhaps even discover one of my own someday…
” I swallowed, trailing off, suddenly worried that in being too honest, I hadn’t sounded like Ansel at all.
Unsettled, I cleared my throat. “I suppose I realized that I had a unique opportunity to learn from the greats, and I didn’t want to squander my remaining time before my uncle called me back to my familial duties. ”
“I can appreciate that,” St. Clair said staring at me thoughtfully. “Is that why you want to build your own telescope?”
I gnawed on my lip. “Someday. I think I want to prove to myself that I can do it.”
“Why prove it to yourself?”
Because I’m a girl with a brain, who is just as competent as any boy here, and not some arbitrary abnormality.
“I suppose it’s a personal objective,” I told him instead. “To see the stars with something I’ve built.”
“I think it’s a great plan. Ambitious, as I’ve said, but great.”
I blinked, an idea forming…one that scared me, but it was an achievable goal. “Do you think such a thing could be part of my assessment at the end of the term?”
He paused, then said, “I’ll consult with one of the Fellows, Mr. George Peacock, and let you know.”
We lapsed into silence, and when I looked up again, I found him staring unwaveringly at me with a gaze that seemed to delve right through to all my secrets.
Or perhaps I felt that way only because I had the foolish inclination to confess them all to him.
I shoved my spectacles up my nose. “Is everything all right, sir?” I asked, worried that my facial hair might be migrating again.
His lean throat bobbed as he swallowed. “Before we continue with the reading assignment, I wanted to thank you again for last week. I could have been badly hurt if you hadn’t seen that punch coming, and my whole career, everything I’ve worked for, would have been in jeopardy.”
I was shocked but something deep inside me tightened and warmed.
“You’re welcome, and don’t worry; your secret is safe with me.
I expect you would have done the same in my place.
In fact, I should be thanking you for getting us out of there.
I would have been in a similar boat if I’d been caught.
” I smiled. “So, I suppose we helped each other, Mr. St. Clair.”
“Since we’ve been bonded in blood and apparently are going to be friends now, you can call me Tarik.” He glanced at my hand resting on the table. “How’s your injury?”
I blinked at him, stunned by the invitation to use his given name, before following his stare to the wound I’d sustained at the gaming hell.
I smoothed my fingers over the back of my hand, feeling the tight, scabbing skin.
Thankfully, our family physician had said I hadn’t needed stitches.
I shook my head sadly at him and let out a dramatic sigh.
“It was a rather narrow escape from certain peril, but the doctors said I will live, although they’ve stipulated that mulish, hard-nosed tutors will need to be exponentially more tolerant of their charges. ”
“Mulish and hard-nosed, am I?”
“Capitally.”
When his face broke into a gloriously unbridled grin and displayed that dratted dimple, those pesky wings in my stomach started to flutter again.
I ducked my head lest he see my infatuation written all over me.
A brusque and stern Tarik St. Clair was dangerous enough, but this affable and charming version of him would be Lady Rosalin’s utter undoing.
Heavens, I’m in so much trouble!