“What … uh …” She darted a hasty look at the receptionist, who wasn’t making the slightest effort to disguise her interest. “What do you think this is about?” she asked in a hushed tone.
He looked at her with an expression of combined contrition and mischievousness. “You know damn well what it’s about and so do I.”
She nodded grimly. “Do you think Pru Zimmerman made good her threat?”
“Maybe. I’m sure she’s going to try to hurt us one way or another.” He thumped his thigh with a balled fist. “Dammit. I don’t care what they think of me, it’s just that I hate being treated like a fraternity pledge caught in a panty raid.” She paled and he mumbled, “Sorry. Bad choice of words.”
When the
y looked at each other and recalled the moments they had shared, they did something totally unexpected. They laughed. They laughed in pure delight with each other and their love. The receptionist’s horrified expression made them laugh even harder.
She was still eyeing them warily when the intercom buzzer sounded. “Yes?” she said into the lighted panel. “Of course.” Her watery eyes lit on Shelley. “Chancellor Martin wishes to see you first.”
Shelley stood up, but Grant was right beside her. “He’ll see us together,” he contradicted, striding toward the forbidding door.
“Grant,” Shelley said, grabbing his sleeve. “I don’t mind. Really.”
“I do. I won’t have him browbeating you. We go together.” He took another determined step, but she held him back.
“Belligerence may not be the best tack to take.”
He turned to her and sighed ruefully. Then he smiled and maneuvered her toward the door with a less aggressive gait. “You’re going to be good for me. In so many ways.”
Chancellor Martin was seated behind his desk, but he stood up as Shelley went through the door. He had arranged his features into a merciful countenance that hardened to disapproval when he saw Grant following her in.
“I asked to see Mrs. Robins alone.”
“She’s agreed that we should see you together, Chancellor Martin,” Grant said. Stunned, Shelley turned around to see if she was with the same man who had been in the outer office. Grant’s tone was respectful and humble.
Apparently the head of the university wasn’t ready to forgive them, no matter how respectful Grant’s tone. “Sit down, please,” he said loftily.
Grant seated himself next to her after helping her into her chair. She crossed her legs and chastely tugged her skirt over her knees. Grant sat staring into the chancellor’s stony face with polite interest.
“I had hoped that this discussion could be avoided,” he began in his most judgmental voice—the king apologizing to the miscreant before lopping off his head. “Since this is a church-supported university, the world watches us closely, much more closely than it would academicians at a public university. Your … interest … in each other would probably be ignored anywhere else, but here, it has come under close scrutiny and criticism.
“You, Mr. Chapman, came to us with a cloud of suspicion already hanging over your head. Frankly, you’ve disappointed us. We—”
“In my teaching abilities?”
The chancellor seemed annoyed that Grant had broken his train of thought. “Uh … no. I’d be remiss if I didn’t tell you that the chairman of your department finds your work commendable.”
Grant smiled broadly and sighed with exaggerated relief. “That’s good to know.”
“However,” Martin said sternly, “your moral code is as important at this university as your teaching ability.” He peered at them severely, indicating that he’d come to the crux of the matter. “It was brought to the attention of one of our most generous … donors … that you have been cohabiting. We find that appalling and intolerable. He has threatened to withdraw a grant already designated for a new science building if you, Mrs. Robins, are not expelled and you, Mr. Grant, are not relieved of your post at the close of this semester.”
“But—”
Grant caught Shelley’s hand and stilled her angry outburst. “May I ask who our accuser is?”
“I don’t see that his identity is important. He happens to be a very prominent physician in Oklahoma City. His daughter attended our university, as he did himself as an undergraduate.”
Light dawned in Shelley’s head. She looked at Grant to see if he shared her suspicions. His feral look revealed that he did. Somehow he managed to control himself. “I think I know of whom you speak and why such a busy, prominent doctor as you’ve described could possibly be interested in the love lives of two people he doesn’t even know. You see, I’ve had the misfortune of meeting his future son-in-law.”
The chancellor’s fist crashed onto his desk. “Mr. Chapman—”
“Permit me,” Grant said, holding up both palms. “Mrs. Robins and I are to be married next Sunday, Dr. Martin. I don’t think we could demonstrate the way we feel about each other more clearly than that. Nowhere in my contract or in the bylaws of this university does it state that a teacher cannot marry the woman he loves. The fact that that woman is a student at this institution should have no bearing on the matter.
“You tell your ‘generous donor’ that if he wants to meddle further, I know some noted representatives of the press who would love to sink their teeth into such a story. Some of them feel that they owe me a favor. They went hard on me in Washington and a few of them have called me to say they’ve had second thoughts about the muckraking stories they wrote. They would love to relieve their consciences and make amends.