Gabriel's Promise (Gabriel's Inferno 4)

Julia looked down at the list of courses and slowly stroked a finger across one of the titles. “You won’t approve a semester abroad for me?”

“No.”

Julia searched Cecilia’s expression, looking for any hint of equivocation. There was none. Resignedly, she placed the list back in her messenger bag and closed it.

“Thank you for your time.” Julia stood and approached the door. “I enjoyed working with you.”

“It will be all right.” Cecilia proffered a small smile. “Many academic couples commute. You and Gabriel will be fine commuting for a year.”

Julia looked at the doorknob, which was well within reach. She turned back to face her supervisor. “I’m not going to commute with my husband. Professor Todd’s course looks interesting and he has invited me to be a teaching assistant for one of his undergraduate classes.”

Cecilia removed her spectacles. She looked angry. “I’ve just told you I won’t approve the transfer of those courses. They won’t count toward your program, which means you won’t be able to take your general exams in the winter.”

“I understand. I’m going to call Professor Matthews and file paperwork to switch supervisors.”

Cecilia blinked, as if Julia’s response was unexpected. “Who will you work with?”

“Professor Picton. She looked at the Edinburgh coursework and agreed to supervise me. Her appointment at Harvard begins in August.”

“You went behind my back.” Cecilia’s tone was accusatory.

“Only as a last resort.”

“I won’t serve on your committee.” Cecilia switched to Italian. “You’re short-changing yourself by forgoing the courses we are offering in the fall for the paltry offerings at Edinburgh. I won’t read your dissertation, and I won’t write a letter of recommendation for you when you try to get a job.”

Julia recoiled. In the air, Cecilia’s words were just sounds strung together. In Julia’s world, they were arrows designed first to threaten and then to harm. Prospective employers would notice Cecilia’s nonappearance on Julia’s dissertation committee. They would notice the absence of her letter of recommendation in Julia’s dossier. Beyond prospective employers, scholarship committees and grant-awarding agencies would also notice Professor Marinelli’s lack of endorsement.

As Julia analyzed her professor, it became obvious Cecilia wasn’t bluffing. Her arrows would find their target and their target was Julia’s reputation.

She felt attacked. She felt wounded. She and Cecilia had previously enjoyed a very collegial relationship. Cecilia was the one who’d encouraged her to take a maternity leave. Now everything was unraveling.

There was a time when Julia had been the target of another professor’s censure. Before Gabriel knew who she was, he’d met with her in his office in Toronto and told her their professor-student relationship wasn’t working. She’d left the office humiliated. (And she’d left him an unintentional surprise under his desk.)

But Julianne was not that shy, awkward young woman anymore. And she would not allow herself to be a pawn in someone else’s chess game of academic egoism.

She and Gabriel had survived months of separation and no contact before they were married. As long as they lived, Julia would do everything in her power to ensure that they were never separated again.

She would do anything to protect Gabriel from himself, so that he wouldn’t feel the need to reject the lectureship just to stay with her in Massachusetts. She would assert herself to Professor Marinelli, even if it meant accepting her unjust censure.

“I’m sorry you feel that way, Cecilia. I wish you the best.” Julia held her head high and exited the office. She would not let Professor Marinelli see her dismay.

Chapter Sixty-Four

The Cloisters of Magdalen College were incredibly picturesque.

Julia leaned through one of the open archways into

the airy space, searching for the small stone carvings that ran along the walls. C. S. Lewis, the professor and author, had been inspired to incorporate those same carvings in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, one of Julia’s favorite books.

On her first visit to Oxford, she and Gabriel had stayed in the college. And she’d sneaked out of bed late at night to look at the carvings. But she wouldn’t dare set foot on the exceptionally manicured lawn in daylight, for fear of being evicted.

Her conversation with Cecilia replayed in her mind, over and over. Julia wondered if she could have handled it differently. She wondered if she hadn’t broached the subject earlier, if Cecilia would have been more amenable.

Working with Professor Picton was an honor, of course, but Julia had enjoyed working with Cecilia. She had considered her a friend. Their acrimonious parting was sure to haunt the rest of her graduate studies, and now her career. Even the power of Katherine’s magic couldn’t prevent Cecilia from speaking derisively about Julia and her project, if she so chose.

Academia was a good deal like a fiefdom.

“Looking for Aslan?” a cheerful voice called to her.