Gabriel surveyed the work of the bellhops approvingly and tipped them generously. Then he crossed to where Julia was standing by the window. “Go lie down.” He stroked her cheek affectionately.
“I thought we were supposed to stay awake, to fight off jet lag.” Julia yawned in spite of herself. “It’s time to feed Clare.”
“Feed her and then lie down. I’ll take her out in the stroller for a walk.”
“Really? I didn’t think you slept at all on the plane.”
“A walk will do me good, although I may take a nap this afternoon. We’ve been invited to dinner with the university council tonight. The gala and reception are tomorrow.”
“Okay.” Julia yawned again. She lifted Clare from her baby carrier and kissed her before settling them both in an armchair next to the fireplace. The bellhops had started a fire, which was sparking cheerfully. “What about Rebecca?”
“She’s decided to explore the city.” Gabriel’s eyes twinkled. “I think she’s gone in search of a Highlander.”
“Godspeed, Rebecca.” Julia crossed her fingers to wish her luck.
Chapter Twenty-Two
That evening, Julia entered the luxurious Jacobite Room in Edinburgh Castle. Through the windows on the far side, she could see the sparkling lights of the exquisite city, blurred a little by the raindrops that clung to the panes of glass.
The room itself had a vaulted ceiling that was lined with wood. Wooden beams supported the structure, which put Julia in mind of the hull of a ship.
They’d finished a sumptuous, multicourse dinner with dignitaries from the university in the Queen Anne Room and had now retired to this more intimate setting for after-dinner drinks.
On their arrival at the castle, the Emersons had been welcomed by a piper, under flaming torches. The university hosts were incredibly hospitable and had even arranged for Julia and Gabriel to view the Scottish Crown Jewels and the Coronation Stone before dinner.
After dinner, Julia had excused herself to the ladies’ room and called Rebecca, in order to check on Clare. Relieved that all was well, she returned to the reception and saw her husband encircled by members of the university court and city officials.
His blue eyes caught hers and he smiled, a ray of sunshine just for her. She smoothed the skirt of her black velvet gown. They’d dressed to match one another. The Professor wore a tailored black suit and tie, his hair carefully combed, his dress shoes shiny. His gold pocket watch and fob threaded through the vest beneath his suit jacket. And he’d eschewed his beloved Scotch for coffee, in keeping with his commitment to sobriety.
He beckoned her with his eyes, unwilling to interrupt the well-dressed gentleman who was talking in his ear scarcely without drawing breath. But Julia felt uncomfortable breaking into the conversation. She inclined her head in the direction of the bar and made a beeline toward it, quietly ordering a cup of tea.
Gabriel gazed longingly at the tumblers of single malt ambrosia the other guests were drinking. He waited for a break in the conversation so he could join his wife at the bar. Surely he could find something better than coffee.
“Mrs. Emerson, I’m Graham Todd.” A middle-aged man, equally well dressed but in a navy suit, approached Julia from the side.
He held out his hand and she shook it. “Pleased to meet you. Call me Julia.”
Graham smiled kindly beneath his graying beard. He had reddish hair that was beginning to gray and strong eyebrows. His eyes were blue and rather keen. One got the impression by looking at him that he didn’t miss much.
“I understand you study Dante, as well.” Graham sipped Scotch from his crystal glass. He sounded English rather than Scottish, at least to Julia’s ears.
“Yes, I’m studying with Cecilia Marinelli at Harvard.”
“I recognized your name from Don Wodehouse’s invitation list. Will you be participating in the workshop in April?”
“I will.” Julia paused, unsure whether it would be presumptuous to ask Graham the same question.
“Don was my supervisor at Oxford. I’m the Dante specialist here at Edinburgh.”
“It’s good to meet you. Edinburgh is an incredible city, and Gabriel is really looking forward to being part of the university community.”
“Will you be joining him?”
Julia hesitated. “I would like that. I need to work out a few things with Harvard, because I’m supposed to be in coursework next fall. Of course, I couldn’t mention anything to them until after tomorrow, when the Sage Lecturer is announced.”
Graham nodded his head. “Of course. We’d be delighted to have you in our department. While we haven’t set our courses for next year as yet, I can certainly send the schedule to you as soon as it’s finalized. What will you write your dissertation on?”
“Thank you. I’m still putting together a proposal for Cecilia, but I had thought of exploring Guido da Montefeltro’s death scene in the Inferno, contrasting it with that of his son Bonconte in the Purgatorio.”
“What do you find interesting about Guido?”
“Well, I was fascinated by his account of his own death, and how he claimed St. Francis of Assisi came for him when he died but was defeated by a demon.”
“Ah,” said Graham. “Fairly straightforward, isn’t it?”
“Dante encounters Guido in the circle of the fraudulent. I’m not sure we can treat his testimony as truthful.”
Graham tugged at his beard. “A good point. But where’s the fraud?”
Julia leaned forward eagerly. “Dante tells us that Hell is structured according to the virtue of justice. So despite what Guido says, justice places him in the Inferno. If he is there justly, why should Francis appear?”
Graham lifted a shoulder. “Francis is unsuccessful in saving Guido, as I recall.”
“If Francis is a saint, he would agree with Dante that justice structures Hell, which means he wouldn’t be second-guessing God. So either Francis didn’t appear at all, or he appeared for a different purpose. And Guido is lying in either case.”
Professor Todd chuckled. “Ah, you must be the young lady who needled Don into taking a second look at Guido. He’s become obsessed with him.”
Julia reddened. “Oh, no, I didn’t needle him. But he came to hear my Guido paper at a conference and he argued with me a little.”
Graham’s eyes grew knowing. “The last time I saw Wodehouse argue with a graduate student, the student abandoned his graduate program and became a shepherd.”
“Oh, dear.” Julia was horrified.
“I don’t think you’re in danger of quitting Harvard and becoming a shepherd?” Professor Todd gently teased.
“Um, no.” Julia sipped her tea. “I’m just trying to finish my coursework so I can take my area examinations.”
Graham looked at her thoughtfully. “Let me introduce you to some of the other faculty in Italian studies and especially to my department head. We may have some courses that would be appropriate.”
He stretched out his arm, indicating that Julia should precede him.
With a grateful smile, she walked into the breach, catching Gabriel’s eye as she moved.
When he saw her being welcomed by colleagues from the university, he beamed with pride.
Chapter Twenty-Three
It was raining.
Professor Emerson had come to the conclusion that the residents of Edinburgh were greatly in need of an ark. It had done nothing but pour since he and Julianne arrived at the castle for dinner.
He turned up the collar of his Burberry raincoat and adjusted his tweed cap, switching his umbrella to his left hand. After he and Julia arrived back at their hotel, Julia had realized they’d run out of diaper cream. And, as she was quick to remind him, diaper cream was essential to the baby’s health.
Gabriel went downstairs to the lobby in search of the concierge but was d
ismayed to discover she was not on duty.
“This would never happen at the Plaza,” he’d grumbled to himself as he queried the front desk staff. Indeed, the Plaza Hotel in New York had never left him or Julianne wanting, no matter the hour.
The Professor was further dismayed to learn that there wasn’t a twenty-four-hour pharmacy or supermarket close to the hotel. Even the Marks & Spencer at Waverley Station was closed. And that was how he’d found himself in the back of his hired car, being chauffeured through the rain to a large twenty-four-hour supermarket in Leith, some twenty minutes away.
Arriving at the supermarket was one thing; finding diaper cream was quite another, especially since the supermarket didn’t seem to carry any of the brands they used back in America. Gabriel called Julianne three times as he walked the aisles trying in vain to discover the correct item. After being told in no uncertain terms by his wife that she was going to bed and that she would speak to him when she woke up for Clare’s next feeding, he purchased four different products, hoping at least one of them would suffice.
When he finally returned to the Caledonian he was in a very bad humor. He scowled up at the brightly lit Edinburgh Castle as he exited the hired car. The doorman greeted him with an open umbrella and escorted him into the hotel.
It was at that moment Gabriel received an incoming text from Jack Mitchell.
He shook the rain from his coat and cap and walked straight to the Caley Bar so he could read the text privately. He ordered a double espresso from the bartender, grousing internally about his inability to order Scotch.
It’s a crime against hospitality, he thought. All that beautiful Scotch, just waiting for the right palate to appreciate it. With this rain, I’ll probably catch pneumonia and die. All Sage Lecturers should be issued antibiotics on arrival. Perhaps as part of the welcoming fruit basket.
As the bartender made his espresso, the Professor withdrew his cell phone from his pocket and read the text.
Nothing on the Nissan.
If you see it again, take a photo.
Will check in on J’s roommate and the senator’s son.
The text was clear enough. Looking for a black Nissan without a license plate number in the Boston area was next to impossible. Still, Jack was nothing if not thorough. He was going to look into Natalie Lundy, Julia’s former roommate, and Simon Talbot, her ex-boyfriend.
Gabriel’s lip curled in distaste. If he ever saw that son of a bitch again . . .
He closed the text message window and placed his phone on top of the bar. A picture of Clare gazed up at him from the screen.
The rain stopped, the clouds parted, and Professor Gabriel Emerson smiled.
He removed his coat and cap, hastily putting them aside along with his umbrella and his shopping bag. He ran his hand through his unruly hair and quickly sat, scrolling through the photographs of Clare and Julianne.
A trip to the store after midnight isn’t so bad; not when such angels wait for me upstairs.
The bartender served the espresso, along with a small plate of biscuits and a glass of ice water.
He sipped his coffee and was suddenly seized with a coughing fit.
It’s already begun. I’ve contracted pneumonia.
“I won’t have what he’s having.” A female voice sounded to his right. “I’ll have a martini, please, up with an olive.”
Two seats over stood a dark-haired woman who spoke with a smooth English lilt. She placed her leather briefcase on the floor next to her chair and sat, thanking the bartender as he poured her drink. He set a small platter of nuts in front of her, which she sampled immediately.
Gabriel sipped his coffee again, hoping it would soothe his cough. He was almost satisfied with the result.
“Bit cold out, isn’t it?” She smiled conspiratorially.
“Glacial. Does it rain like this all the time?”
The woman shrugged. “I live in London. But the summers here are very nice. The sun doesn’t set at night until past ten o’clock.”
“Humph,” said Gabriel.
“American?” she asked, after tasting her martini.
“Yes.”
“What brings you to a rainy Edinburgh?”
“I’m a guest of the university.”
“Me as well.” The woman looked over her shoulder. “I was supposed to meet my crew here, but I think they’ve gone out without me. Bollocks.”
Gabriel finished his espresso and ordered another. “What kind of crew?”
“Television.” The woman moved her glasses from on top of her head so she could read the bar menu. “We’ve come up from London to cover something at the university.
“I can’t believe they left me.” She looked around the bar, which was almost empty. “Those bastards.”
“You’re a television presenter?” Gabriel asked politely.
“God, no. I’m the producer.” She lifted her martini in his direction. “Cheers.”
“Cheers.” Gabriel lifted his cup in return.
“Right. So what are you doing for the university?”
Gabriel paused as the bartender served his second espresso and another plate of biscuits. “A series of meetings, knowledge transfer, that sort of thing.”
The woman’s mouth twitched. “Are you the one with the knowledge, or is it the other way round?”
“Mostly me.”
“What kind of knowledge are you transferring? Gravitational waves? Theology? The price of cheese and international trade?”
“Dante Alighieri.” Gabriel drank his espresso.
The woman put down her drink. “Really?”
Gabriel smothered a smile. “Yes, really.”
“Dante is interesting but he spent an inordinate amount of time talking about Hell.”
“And traveling through it.”
The woman laughed. “Yes, but no one believes in Hell anymore. Isn’t it difficult to interest people in Dante? To make him relevant?”
Gabriel turned in his chair. “Dante addresses love, sex, redemption, and loss. Those subjects are of ultimate concern to all human beings. If you skip Inferno, you miss the best parts.”
“But it’s all about sin, isn’t it? Punishment. Torture. Very badly dressed people.”
“Think of it as a redemptive exploration of human behavior. Each deadly sin represents a singular obsession, and Dante shows us their consequences. It’s a cautionary tale, more than anything. Since he labels his work a comedy, he’s telling us he thinks the story of humanity has a happy ending.”
“Not sure the souls in Hell are happy, but I take your point.” The woman removed her olive from her martini and ate it. “What are the deadly sins again?”
“Pride, envy, wrath, sloth, avarice, gluttony, and lust.”
“Ah.” The woman shivered. “Now my Catholic upbringing is coming back to me. Although you could say that in the news business, we tend to be acquainted with sin in all of its various forms. So you’re presenting your lecture tomorrow?”
Gabriel froze. His status as Sage Lecturer was not to be known by the public until the announcement tomorrow. “I didn’t say that.”
“But you’re a professor of literature?” The woman turned her head and gave Gabriel an expectant look.
Gabriel forced a smile. “Just a Dante enthusiast from America, happy to meet some of his Edinburgh colleagues.”
At that moment, a rather rowdy group of men and women entered the bar and walked straight toward the woman. She cursed them, but with a smile on her face.
Gabriel abandoned his second espresso and quickly charged his refreshment to his suite.
The television crew ordered drinks, talking boisterously among themselves.
Gabriel retrieved his coat, hat, and umbrella. As he turned to go, the woman approached him.
She extended a business
card. “Eleanor Michaels, BBC News. We’ll be covering the Sage Lectures announcement tomorrow.”
Gabriel adopted a stoic expression. It would be rude—and undoubtedly suspicious—to refuse the card.
“Nice to meet you, Miss Michaels.” He accepted the card and shook her hand. “What are the Sage Lectures?”
“You tell me. And it’s Eleanor.” She leaned forward. “I know it’s shrouded in secrecy, and no one is supposed to know anything before the announcement, but I hope you’ll give us an interview tomorrow.”
He lowered his chin patiently. “Enjoy your evening.”
“See you tomorrow. Hope the rain ends.” The woman smiled before returning to her colleagues.
Gabriel pocketed the card and went upstairs to the suite.
Stercus, he thought.
Chapter Twenty-Four
The following afternoon
Old College
The University of Edinburgh
This is very grand, Julia thought as she entered the Old College Quad on foot. The college itself was very regal and made of stone, rising in front of her with high arched windows and elegant pillars.
Since Gabriel had to arrive early, Graham had agreed to meet Julia in the quad. He greeted her with a friendly smile and walked her to the entrance, being careful to avoid the immaculately manicured grass.
Julia was grateful for her university escort, as finding the Playfair Library Hall wasn’t easy. The hall was bright and had a large barrel ceiling. White pillars lined the space, along with a series of marble busts perched atop plinths.
Julia regarded the bookshelves and their contents with envy, wishing she had time to explore the collection.
Almost all of the two hundred fifty seats in the hall were taken. And there was a large media section gathered at the back of the room, behind the last row of chairs. Julia noticed that BBC News was present, along with several other press organizations.
Graham escorted Julia to the front row. She was careful as she walked in her high heels, determined not to stumble in front of the crowd of people.
Gabriel's Promise (Gabriel's Inferno) Page 10