Chapter Twenty-One #2
After a much longer hug, Will offered to help with the trunks while Tarik and I ferried a couple of his smaller satchels full of notebooks and essays along with his precious copies of Newton’s works.
I let out a laugh as I traced the embossed cover of Principia… the book that had brought us together.
“I’ll never regret any of this,” I said as we walked back to his dorm for the remaining items. I received quite a few stares from students in the courtyard, but surprisingly, no one said anything.
Perhaps it was because I was with one of the tutors.
And as a former Wrangler, Tarik was a familiar face.
At least he would leave with his reputation intact.
“I know what I did was wrong because of the harm it caused you. But perhaps one day, women will be allowed to enroll here, and there’ll be no stopping us. ”
“I believe that,” Tarik said, gathering the last of his belongings.
We went down the staircase and met a red-eyed Will followed by Harold and the twins. “We’ll take those for you,” the boys said, reaching for the rest of the bags.
“Thank you,” Tarik said. “I just want to make sure I have everything. There’s another room I need to check quickly. Will you give me a moment?”
Assuming he meant for me to leave as well, I nodded and turned to head out with Will and the others, but a strong hand yanked me back into the nearest combination room.
It was empty and dark, with only sparse late-afternoon light coming in through the windows.
I was pressed up against a very warm, very hard chest.
“What are you doing?” I whispered. “We could get caught.”
“This is where we first met,” he said. I glanced over my shoulder, the dark shapes of the sofas and chairs taking form and inciting a memory of my first day here. “You called me aggressive.”
I looped my hands around his neck, since he showed no inclination of releasing my waist where his palms gripped. “No, Mr. St. Clair, if you recall, I said your viewpoint was aggressive.”
“Is it still your opinion that a geometrical method is more rigorous and that there’s something to be said for classical construction?”
I traced his jaw with my fingertip. “Classic mathematical methods endure for a reason. But honestly, all I knew was that you were the most beautiful boy I had ever seen and I was certain my infatuation would give me away. You looked like Adonis in the flesh.”
“Adonis? Tell me more,” he said, bending down to feather a kiss against my forehead.
“And also, the most arrogant.” I pushed to my toes to kiss the edge of his jaw where my fingers had traced. “I thought my decision to enroll was done for when I realized how much you detested Ansel, and then you announced you were to be my tutor.”
His mouth grazed a path down my temple to my ear, making my breaths shorten to indecent pants the closer he ventured to my lips. “And after that?”
“Instead of quitting, I was determined to exceed your expectations.”
His hands lifted to cup my cheeks, making my voice hitch in my throat. “You did. Every last one of them. I’ve never been prouder of anyone than I have been about you. I hope you know that.”
“Thank you,” I whispered.
His mouth met the tip of my nose, my cheeks, before finally settling on my lips.
I sighed at the soft, sweet feel of him, a sensation that I was already addicted to, as he deepened the kiss.
My hands tightened around his nape, crushing my body to his while he explored me thoroughly, leaving no corner of my mouth untouched.
His fingers crept up into my hair, the strands sliding from their pins like rivers of ink, and he groaned as he speared through the silken locks.
When we broke apart, he kept pressing kisses to my throat, one hand tethered in my hair and the other running down the length of my spine, before returning to my lips for one last taste.
“Bloody hell, I’m completely obsessed with you,” he muttered against my mouth.
I smiled. “The feeling is mutual.”
My entire body was flying in the clouds when the door to the combination room opened, and I nearly shrieked as one of the tutors let out a scream of his own.
“Sorry, don’t mind us!” Tarik cried as he grabbed my hand and pulled me to the door. I snorted at the tutor’s alarmed expression as we tore past. His eyes widened as they settled on me—a girl—in the middle of their prized male sanctuary. Ring the bells! Fetch the pitchforks!
I snorted at the thought of a Jezebel alert going off, warning all and sundry to beware the female wiles lurking in their midst. It truly wasn’t funny, but the fear and subsequent demonization of women was categorically absurd.
Suspicion of evil, my foot. It was simply a way to keep women in the spaces where men thought we should belong.
The kitchen…the bedchamber…the nursery.
Where I belonged was going to be my choice, because I was ready to kick that archaic expectation right into the Thames.
Intrepid women like Wang Zhenyi, Caroline Herschel, Sophie Germain, and émilie du Chatelet had already carved inroads into male-dominated spaces like mathematics, science, philosophy, and astronomy, and earned recognition for their work.
Just like them, I was going to add my name to the history books.
We caught up with everyone near the Great Gate, where our family carriage with the fancy Delmont ducal crest waited at the main entrance to the college.
My father was standing in deep conversation with Ansel.
It looked serious but not contentious. I glanced up at the arch that I’d walked through on my very first day here with a strange sense of nostalgia.
That moment had changed the trajectory of my life.
Not wanting to say goodbye, I dragged my feet to where my friends stood.
I hugged the twins first. “I would attempt to tell you to be good, but I don’t want to waste my breath. Instead, I’ll just say make good choices.”
“We’re not that bad, Roz,” Klaus said, eyes twinkling.
Kristof rolled his eyes. “Speak for yourself, I always make excellent choices.”
“Try not to get rusticated, will you? And you better write me, or I’ll tell Blake never to speak to either of you again.” The horrified looks on their faces made me burst out laughing.
I hugged the quiet Harold next and wished him the best with his remaining years.
We hadn’t gotten especially close, but I liked him.
And after Will’s revelation about Harold’s position here, I also had a sneaking suspicion he was the scout I’d never met, which had worked out well for both of us.
“Thank you for everything you did for me, Harold,” I said quietly, squeezing his shoulder. “I appreciated all of it.”
He smiled with a shy nod. “You’re welcome, Roz.”
Will received one last bone-crushing hug before I disappeared into the coach and let the first tears come.
Goodness, I would miss the boys terribly.
I’d miss their antics and racing on the River Cam.
I’d miss our deep conversations and teasing banter.
I’d miss all the heated debates and the luncheon sessions.
After the farewells were made, the duke, Ansel, and Tarik climbed into the carriage. My father sat beside me, facing the other two. I leaned my head against my father’s arm. “Thank you, Papa.”
“You’re welcome, my girl.”
The stress of the morning had taken it out of me, and the gentle rocking of the carriage made my eyes drift shut.
Before I fell asleep, I could hear the three of them talking in low voices about Tarik’s social club, and what he hoped to accomplish.
I wanted to perk up to say what an exceptionally clever idea I thought it was, especially with the dearth of public intellectual salons, beyond private drawing rooms, for women.
But I knew Tarik could hold his own. He was a prodigy, after all.