Man Who Loved Pride and Prejudice (33 page)

   The remainder recounted what she hoped was a sensationalized version of Calder's past affairs and speculated whether this would last any longer than his previous flings. There was no reference to his writing or why he was at Haverford in the first place.

   He rested his hands on the back of a chair. "How is the college going to react to one of its faculty members showing up in the tabloids?" he asked, as if the answer to his question was a foregone conclusion.

   "I don't think it will be that much of a problem. It doesn't say anything bad about me. It might be embarrassing in my department, if anyone finds out about it. Maybe I should ignore it and hope nobody notices." She folded the paper and pushed it away.

   "If you want, I could talk to them. After all, I'm the one the tabloids are after."

   "Thanks, but no. What we need is to get them to see how ridiculous it is." She paused and then smiled wickedly. "I have an idea. Are you really ready to go public about Stephen West?"

It was 10:45, near the end of Biology 101, the largest class the department offered. Cassie took a deep breath, glancing down to make sure her PowerPoint was ready to go.

   "Now, before we conclude today, I'd like to take a few minutes to review common errors in experiment design and write-ups. Not only do these occur in our lab," she clicked to display the cover of a lab notebook on the overhead screen "but also in some of our finer scientific journals." She replaced it with an image of the tabloid's front page.

   The class was accustomed to her tongue-in-cheek humor, so it took a moment before any of them looked closely enough to recognize her picture. She spoke over the first gasps and whispered comments. "The scientific method requires following a particular series of steps. First, you make an observation, and then you formulate the hypothesis, a possible explanation for your observation."

   She clicked to show the headline of the article, "Calder Westing in Love Nest with Sexy Scientist." "Your observation must be a neutral one that avoids bias. A good scientist will, of course, define any terms that might cause confusion." She used her laser pointer to circle the words "love nest" and "sexy." "And then there is the
most fundamental error,
which is to mistake the hypothesis for an explanation of a phenomenon, without performing experimental tests."

   She had to raise her voice to be heard over the laughter. She flashed up the first paragraph of the story. "It simply will not do to formulate your hypothesis without a thorough review of literature. In this case, the
researcher states that the two subjects unde
r observation have just met, whereas a quick check of a book written by Calder Westing makes mention of their acquaintance well before this date." The acknowledgments page from
Pride & Presumption appeared o
n the screen.

   "Another common mistake is to ignore or rule out data that do not support the hypothesis. In this case, the writer implies that Mr. Westing's sole purpose for being in the area was the aforementioned scientist, ignoring the data showing that he had been interviewed for a job earlier that week at a small liberal arts college within a half mile of the so-called love nest." She put up an aerial photo of Haverford's campus, amused to hear excited whispers being passed back and forth.

   "I hope this quick review means I will not see any of these common errors appearing in your lab reports, and if they do, I will urge you to drop out immediately and seek employment at the tabloid of your choice. Are there any questions?"

   As soon as she finished, a dozen students had their hands in the air, well beyond the usual average. This was likely one of the more memorable lectures she had ever delivered.

They left the question of Christmas until almost the last minute. Calder wanted to be alone with Cassie, without all the distractions of her work, and suggested a variety of places they could be together—going to his apartment in Washington or visiting the Cape. He ruled out Virginia because he didn't feel ready to expose Cassie to his parents. Staying with her for Christmas meant he would have to spend New Year's with his parents, but it was a necessary price to pay to avoid the trouble his father could make for them.

   In the end, the choice that could serve as a tradition for both of them was to accept an invitation from the Crowleys. Dave and Ann Crowley gave Cassie a warm welcome. They seemed delighted Calder had finally found someone who made him happy. If Dave was troubled by Cassie's past, he gave no sign of it. Dave teased them about having known both of them longer than they had known each other. "I should have had the sense to introduce you years ago," he said.

   Cassie found it odd to be their house guest rather than just going to their Christmas Eve party. It was a more elegant household than she was accustomed to. The Crowleys wore their wealth lightly, but it was present nonetheless. Still, it was easier for her than it would be with Calder's family; Dave Crowley had earned his fortune in law from humble beginnings. The Crowleys still remembered the kind of world she lived in.

   Calder slipped seamlessly into the Crowley home, his mood a startling contrast to the previous year. The longing, desire, and despair then had been the beginning of the blackest period of his life. But without it he wouldn't have Cassie by his side now, looking up at him with an impish smile. He didn't know how he had lived without her laughing eyes, the warmth of her touch, her gentle teasing. If she was still unsure of their future, he wasn't.

   As they waited for the first party guests to arrive, Cassie asked him, "Do you remember kissing me here?"

   "Vividly." He also remembered the agony that had followed.

   "I
hated
it that you could make me feel that way so easily."

   He touched her cheek. "You don't seem to hate it anymore."

   "Nope," she said. "As a matter of fact, I've scouted out every piece of mistletoe in the house."

   "How about we skip the mistletoe and go straight back to our room?" He eyed her body, encased in the same clinging midnight blue dress she had worn the previous year. It looked sexy as hell on her, and it represented to him how unattainable she had been. He was looking forward to getting her out of it. He wished he could rip it off her. That way no other man would ever see her in it again.

   "You're just trying to get out of staying for the party," she said. "I hope you know I'm fine on my own if you decide you've had enough of the crowd."

   If she thought he was going to leave her alone in that dress with other men and mistletoe hanging overhead, she was mistaken. "Thanks, but I want to be with you, just in case you run into some of that mistletoe."

   This party was easier than most for Calder because he was so focused on her. Still, when midnight approached, he was ready to take her upstairs to their room. The door was hardly closed behind them when he set himself to removing her silky dress, working slowly and caressing each newly uncovered inch of her with his fingers and lips, until she stood before him wearing nothing and shivering with desire. He took her to bed then and devoted the next hour to making sure it was an experience she would never forget. When at the end she climaxed in his arms one last time, he held her close and whispered, "Merry Christmas, Cassie." This time she wouldn't drive away.

   Maybe he would call to wish her a happy New Year. She wanted to hear his voice, and the mere idea he might call kept her staring at the silent telephone. Even going to bed alone was more appealing than sitting around missing Calder, but she couldn't sleep because she hoped the telephone would ring. Finally she turned off the telephone to stop herself from hoping for a call. She was disappointed, if unsurprised, to find no message from him in the morning.

   Instead there was an email from Calder, saying he would be delayed for a couple of days. The disappointment was enough to make her want to cry. He didn't give any reason. It wasn't like him.

   The next day an unexpected knock sent Cassie running to the door. Could it be Calder coming back early without warning? She opened the door, ready to throw herself into his arms.

   Calder's father stood on the other side. He smiled winningly and said, "Hello, Cassie."

   Cassie took a step backwards. She didn't like him appearing on her doorstep without the common courtesy of a call, and she wasn't fooled into thinking he remembered her from their brief meeting a year and a half earlier. "I'm sorry, Calder isn't here. Next time you might want to call ahead and save yourself a trip."

   "I know Calder is away. I'm here to see you. May I come in?"

   Cassie held the door open, wishing she had the courage to say no. She didn't trust Joe Westing when he was being charming. "What can I do for you, Senator?"

   "It's Joe, please. May I sit down?"

   "If you'd like."

   "Thank you." He settled himself on her worn sofa. "I'm not your enemy, Cassie."

   "I'm glad to hear that, but I doubt you came all the way from DC to tell me that." Cassie wanted to strike a balance between good manners and assertiveness. Whatever he had to say, she wasn't going to like it.

   "I'm concerned about Calder."

   "So I gather."

   "He isn't in good shape, Cassie. If you had met him a few years ago, you would know that."

   "He seems fine to me."

   Joe shook his head. "He's flailing, trying to figure out who he is and what he wants, and rebelling against everything our family stands for. I understand. I went through a similar phase when I was young."

   "I haven't seen any evidence of flailing."

   "You haven't? No unexpected behavior or sudden withdrawals? Well, I suppose I'm glad of that, though you haven't been with him that long. Has he told you about Annette?"

   "You're going to tell me about her anyway, so what does it matter?" Underneath Cassie's automatic retort lay the memory of Calder's sudden decision to stay in Virginia.

   Did his father have something to do with that?

   "Annette was everything I could have wanted for Calder. Attractive, intelligent, moved in the right circles, good family. Unfortunately, none of those things are a guarantee of good character, but it was quite a while before any of us realized that. All Calder meant to her was a guaranteed income. He refused to see it. Calder is very loyal, as I'm sure you're aware. It took flagrant infidelity on her part before he understood what was happening. It became quite ugly before he reached the point of breaking it off with her. Then he went into a tailspin, rejecting not only Annette but also all of their friends, his entire social circle, and even, to be quite honest, his mother and me. We had approved of Annette in the beginning, you see."