Page 32 of The Devil in Oxford
I nodded, opening my mouth, then snapping it back shut. “The cold air stole my breath, that’s all.”
The door to the pub opened again, the merry bell jingling in the night, and I glanced up to find Ruan standing in the threshold beneath the mistletoe, none too pleased to see me. “Ruby…”
Laurent gave me a queer look, then turned to Ruan. “You are acquainted then?”
“We”—I suddenly felt rather ill—“are acquainted.”
“That’s right! All that business in Lothlel Green I’d read in the papers. I’d nearly forgotten. How silly of me.”
The muscles in the edge of Ruan’s jaw quirked as he watched me, struggling to control whatever fit of temper was going on inside his brain.
Are you well?I didn’t know if he could hear me, but it was worth a shot.
His nostrils flared as he made a cynical sound in the back of his throat.
Apparently not.
I turned my back on my irritated pellar. “I am afraid as much as I’d love to join you this evening, I’d best get back to Mr. Owen. I did promise him I wouldn’t be gone long.”
Laurent checked his pocket watch and frowned. “If you are certain. I’d better be off as well. I don’t want to be miss the start of the lecture. Are you ready, Kivell?”
“Go on without me, Professor. I’ll be along dreckly.”
Oh God.
I knew good and well whatdrecklymeant. A convenient Cornishism that Ruan employed that meantwhenever he damn well pleased. It could be anywhere fromimminentlytotwo weeks from now. A wise woman would have felt an iota of fear at the tone of his voice—might have said or done whatever necessary to remove that strange flash of anger from Ruan’s unusual green eyes—but I was not wise, certainly not when it came to him.
Oblivious to the razor’s edge of tension growing between us, Laurent dipped his head and headed off down the lane, disappearing into the shadows. Ruan loomed on the sidewalk in front of me until long after Laurent was out of earshot.
The muscle in his jaw worked, as he debated what he was going to say to me. I could see from the look in his eyes he wasn’t happy. But whatever it was, I wasn’t having it. “Where have you been all day?” The question came out sharper than I’d intended.
He let out an aggrieved grunt, folding his arms across his chest. “It isn’t as if you ever ask my permission before you decide to hare off somewhere.” His tone softened. “If you must know, I’ve been with Laurent all day. He wanted to speak of Ernst. I lost track of time.”
Ernst?Then suddenly I recalled the conversation I’d had with Professor Laurent in his library earlier this week. Of how he was waiting on his former student who had been friends with his late son, Ernst.Ruanmust have been that student. “He was your friend…” I murmured. Whatever ire I’d been holding on to fled. It also certainly explained Ruan’s ragged expression tonight. “I’m sorry.”
“I’m not— I hadn’t spoken of him in years before tonight. It feltgood to be with someone who loved him. Who’d not forgotten the light he brought into this world. Ernst never treated me differently or less than—even though he knew I was a miner’s son.” Ruan closed his eyes, giving his head a shake. “Gods. There were times back then I thought he was only kind because he felt sorry for my lot, but I sometimes think he saw something in me. Something I’ve never seen in myself.”
I swallowed hard, knowing that feeling intimately. “I hadn’t thought—I didn’t mean to bring back the past. Mrs. Penrose said you’d gone out looking for a book. I assumed you were out—”
“I had been, then I stopped by to see Laurent…” He let out a sad small sound. “But it is nothing. A fool’s errand. My melancholy has nothing to do with you and I should not have been curt with you over it.”
I sighed.
“Mytemperhowever, that is deserved…”
My relief was short-lived. I placed my hands on my hips, when I caught the edge of humor in his eyes. He was teasing. I wasn’t sure what to make of that.
“Returning to Oxford brings back those last few months before I left the University. I was angry then. Ernst— he cautioned me to control my temper.”
“I’m still not certain youhavemuch of a temper. I’ve seen you cross but never truly angry.”
Ruan chuckled. “Then Ernst would feel he’d done the job well… though I doubt he would believe it after the way I left Oxford.”
“You never told me what happened.…”
Ruan closed his eyes, exhaling through his nose. The familiar divot of worry reappeared between his brows. I squeezed my icy fingers tight to keep from reaching up to smooth it. “It’s a story for another day.”
“No.… I didn’t mean to you, I mean to him. Was it the war?”
