AllFreeNovel
Share Us
David has to duck to enter the threshold. Ruth suddenly thinks of Janus, the god of entrances and exits. The Romans used to bury animals, and sometimes children, under doorways as offerings to the two-faced god. Ruth once discovered a child’s bones under the doorway of a house in Norwich.
‘Coffee?’ says Ruth.
‘That would be great. Thanks.’ He moves away to examine her bookshelves. Ruth would do the same in a strange house, but she rather wishes that there weren’t so many pony books and Georgette Heyers scattered between the academic tomes.
When Ruth comes back with the drinks, David is immersed inJill’s Gymkhana.
‘This is great,’ he says. ‘Maja would love it.’
David’s daughter, Maja, is the same age as Kate. They once spent a day together and are now, apparently, Facebook friends.
‘Does Maja like horses?’
‘Mad about them.’
‘I’ve never been on a horse,’ says Ruth, ‘but I love pony books for some reason.’
‘It’s a soothing world,’ says David. ‘Like Georgette Heyer.’
‘Georgette Heyer was an excellent historian,’ says Ruth. ‘They useAn Infamous Armyto teach military history at Sandhurst.’ She thinks of Zoe’s adoptive mother, starting with Georgette Heyer and ending with Lady Nicola de la Haye.
David smiles in an irritatingly understanding way. ‘That’s what I came to talk to you about.’
‘You came to talk to me about Georgette Heyer?’
‘No, about Maja. About Sweden.’ David’s ex-wife is Swedish, Ruth knows. That doesn’t explain this visit, though.
‘If the department closes,’ says David, ‘and I hope it won’t, I’m going back to Sweden to teach at Uppsala. I spoke to my head of department yesterday and he said that he’d like to offer you a post too.’
‘At Uppsala?’ Ruth knows it’s a prestigious university, but she doesn’t think she could find the place on a map.
‘Uppsala is beautiful,’ says David. ‘The library in the Carolina Rediviva building is just incredible. And the town is so historic. You know St Erik is buried there?’
Ruth thinks of her old university lecturer, Erik Anderssen. He’s been dead now for thirteen years, but Ruth wouldn’t put it past him to be meddling in her life.
‘There are these standing stones all over the town,’ says David. ‘Viking stones decorated with runic animals. Then there’s Old Uppsala where they’ve found Bronze Age and Iron Age settlements. You’d love it there.’
‘I don’t want to move to Sweden,’ says Ruth.
‘Think about it,’ says David. ‘It’s a great university and Sweden is a wonderful place to live. Besides, it would make me very happy.’
‘Why?’ says Ruth. The conversation seems to be getting stranger by the minute.
‘Because I’m in love with you,’ says David. ‘I thought you knew.’
Chapter 35
When Nelson gets back upstairs, Judy is waiting in his office. Nelson gives her a quick hug.
‘How’s Cathbad?’
‘Pretty good. All things considering. The doctor thinks that the fainting and dizzy spells are caused by Long Covid. It’s an umbrella term really. Doctors still don’t understand all the implications because the symptoms are different for every patient. But they can include an inner ear condition that’s similar to vertigo.’
‘Vertigo? Isn’t that fear of heights?’ Nelson remembers that Cathbad once scaled the highest roller coaster in Europe trying to save Katie (who was actually safely on the ground at the time). Cathbad isn’t a person who is scared of heights. He’s also extremely brave and he loves Nelson’s daughter.
‘It’s similar but the feeling usually doesn’t last.’
‘Poor old Cathbad. Covid really took it out of him.’
