Page 25 of Things We Do for Love and Science
The color in her cheeks was heightened but her posture stiff. She must be getting tired. They’d have to break for tea soon.
“Great idea, Delia. You’ve quite the business mind. I assumed it was all sober analysis of facts in the lofty ivory tower of science.” His scientist friend had the power to surprise him. Her brain worked in mysterious ways; she always was one move ahead.
She scoffed. “That goes to show how little you know about the modern scientific research circus. No lab can survive without external funds, and funding doesn’t flow in by itself. We have to haggle, beg, and hustle for it.”
“I only meant it’s very creative for a scientist.”
She glared at him in mock-outrage. “Excuse me. Science isverycreative, I’ll have you know. It aims to explain the world and its laws using models. Once an experiment throws up a result that contradicts an existing model, a new model has to be created to accommodate the newly discovered fact. And that takes creative thought.”
“I’m in awe.” He held up his hands. “Seriously, I am.”
She laughed. “There’s no doubtyou’recreative. Once Renwood Hall’s set up, you could dedicate more time to painting. You’d have to put yourself out there a bit and advertise your skills in portraiture to the posh and the loaded. I bet people would love to get their portrait painted by a bona-fide earl, especially such a talented one.”
His cheeks heated. “You’re flattering me. But it’ll take a while, if I ever get there.”
She glanced at him, her expression pensive. “I admire you for pulling out all the stops to save this house, but I do sometimes wonder, why don’t you sell it and be free? Get yourself a small place you can afford on your accountant’s income and live happily ever after?”
He creased his brow. “That would be the sensible thing to do, but to sell this place, to no longer have access to the private chapel and its crypt where my parents are interred? I don’t know if I can.”
“Sorry, Gabriel, I was being insensitive.” She chewed her lower lip, and he found it hard to focus on anything else.
“Don’t be sorry. You were only being practical.”
“Being practical is a virtue until it morphs into cruelty.”
He shook his head. “You are anything but cruel.” She was being hard on herself, so strict, such high standards. He turned to the window. “I suppose I could remove my parents’ urns and take them with me, but to be honest, I would hate having to let go of a place that holds so many memories. I’d especially miss the park. Besides, who am I really without all this?” He returned his gaze to her and motioned at the walls of the stately room. “Without the task of keeping Renwood Hall in the family, impossible as it may seem? It is not just an obligation; it is a large part of my identity.”
Her expression softened. “I understand. It’s the same for me. I’m totally wrapped up in my job. Who would I be without being able to lord it over my grad students and chase around the folks in John Winter’s lab?”
His mouth curved upward. “It seems we’re as bad as each other.”
~ * ~
Delia hurried pastthe neoclassical quad reserved for the humanities and entered the 1960s concrete monstrosity that housed the life sciences. She raced up the stairs to the largest lecture theatre, slid through the open door, and walked to the podium.Oof, I made it by the skin of my teeth.
Ever since she’d come to Renwood University after her post-doc at MIT, she’d always given the introductory lecture in genetics. A gift John Winter had bestowed upon her to lighten his workload.
It was fun to see the wide-eyed first years shuffling into the lecture theatre, in awe of the large space and the sheer number of fellow students. She routinely instructed them to leave laptops, phones, and tablets at home for the first lecture, and most complied.
Then she’d start with the very basics. She liked to level the playing field at least somewhat before beginning in earnest.
She pulled the model of the DNA molecule from her carrier bag and placed it on the desk to her left. The seventeen-base pair double helix was her favorite prop, and a fizzing sparkle spread in her chest at the thought of Gabriel including it in her portrait. But now to the task before her. She regarded the sea of expectant faces and schooled her features into those of a serious lecturer.
“To start off with, I’d like to make sure we’re talking about the same thing when we say DNA, gene, chromosome, telomere.” She spun, picked up the marker, and wrote each scientific term on the whiteboard. Awareness prickled down her spine, knowing she was watched by sixty pairs of eyes, some of which were bored, eager, or positively frightened.
She faced the class again, taking in each row, front to back. “Why this exercise in extreme basics? You may wonder. I want to make it very clear that no question is too simple or stupid to be asked in this room. If anything is unclear, raise your hand. And don’t envy those students too much who got into Oxford or Cambridge. The DNA molecule is the same the world over, and there are great things you’ll be able to accomplish here in Renwood.”
A timid hand was raised, and she nodded in encouragement. “But it says on the university website you’re an Oxford graduate yourself, Dr. Wright.”
“Call me Delia, please. Yes, I am. I’m assuming you lot were a bit cleverer than me and actually had a social life outside of school instead of burying your head in books morning, noon, and night in the hope of getting into Oxbridge. Because now you’re here, and the hammer is about to fall.” Laughter rippled through the ranks of eager first-years. She put up a hand. “This is no ordinary undergraduate course. This is science, and science is supposed to be hard.
“At Oxford, I got a look behind the scenes and am convinced excellent work and great research can also be done at a smaller, less prestigious university. They may have more staff, and labs that are generously kitted out, but a spectrophotometer does what a spectrophotometer does, whether it’s used in a lab in Oxford, Cambridge, or indeed here, in Renwood. Your ideas count, your dedication, enthusiasm, and brain power. We’re here to support you. I want you to be proud of this institution and the work you’ll be doing here.”
An approving rumble showed her students were ready to be inspired to achieve great things.
“As you grow and mature as scientists, appreciate your achievements, celebrate your successes, but never become arrogant. Arrogance breeds complacency, and that is the death of scientific curiosity.” She shrugged her shoulders. “And it also makes you an ass.”
Laughter erupted once more. She’d hooked them and only needed to reel them in.
