There was a world beyond the confines of Harley Dingell, a world full of people, challenge, promise, and even love. In Washington, knowledgeable people might mentally genuflect in the presence of a Harley Dingell partner, but as far as the rest of the country was concerned he was just another lawyer. The firm’s power and importance mattered only to a very select circle.
What had seemed so important became less so when considered in the light of a more normal existence. Still, Green thought, a man couldn’t just walk away from a life’s conquest.
On impulse, he called the School of Nursing. Regina was in her office.
“How about lunch? I have to be at the law school at three, but I’m free until then.”
She laughed. “It’s after one o’clock. This is the mid-west, Jerry. We eat at noon. Besides, I’m in the middle of grading some exam papers. And judging by some of these answers, these nursing students are being financed by the funeral industry.”
“How about a cup of coffee? You can watch me eat. It’s one of life’s more amusing experiences.”
She giggled. “Do you remember the lemon pie thing when we were kids?”
It had been a high school pie eating contest that had ended up as a Keystone Kop pie throwing riot. He had emerged that day covered from head to foot with pie filling.
“I still eat the same way, just as dainty as ever. Come on, you can leave the papers of your young butchers for later. One quick cup of coffee?”
She relented. They met at a new cafeteria near the School of Nursing. In the days when Michigan State had its own farms and provided meat and produce for the campus the food was as good as anywhere in the world. However, that had changed, at least in this cafeteria. Green munched on a typical mass-produced sandwich—a hamburger with more cereal than meat—and a salad of wilted lettuce topped with an undersized pear half. He didn’t care, he was happy.
The years again seemed to slip away as they both laughed over things triggered by the memory of the pie contest. Some of the students glanced over at them, obviously dismayed by older people making a noisy spectacle of themselves.
“What happens after you talk with the dean?” she asked. He noticed that Regina had carefully avoided prying into his purposes for being on campus. He knew that took control, and he respected her for it.
He pushed the half-eaten pear away. “My business here will be decided on his answers to some questions. I won’t know what I’m going to do until after we talk.”
She bit her lip, displaying a rare nervousness. “Will you be going back to Washington directly?”
“Maybe.” He was going to say more, but stopped when he sensed that she wanted something.
“Needless to say, Jerry, I’ve thought a great deal about what we discussed, about us, about you and me.” She laughed, but there was a hollow, almost forced sound to it. “I’ve practically thought of nothing else.” She looked down, as if ashamed of that fact.
“I meant every word, Regina. I admit it was a lovely, magical night, but I honestly meant everything I said. And don’t concern yourself about the divorce. That’s been coming for quite some time. I suppose Carol and I could never really find the time to bother about it, that’s all. I know that sounds very blasé, but it’s also the truth.”
She nodded without comment, then looked up at him. “You talked about romance, Jerry. And I told you I have a dream, just like most other single women my age. It would be nice to live a sort of Fred Astaire—Ginger Rogers existence, a wonderfully happy dance, but you and I both know that life just doesn’t permit that sort of thing.” She slowly shook her head. “Happiness, God, how many definitions that word can have.”
“Regina, if I started divorce proceedings now it wouldn’t take very long. My wife wouldn’t oppose it, that’s just not the sort of thing she would do. She really wouldn’t care. I’d be free in a matter of months.”
“And would you chuck it all, Jerry? Would you kiss your law firm goodbye and come live with me?”
He wanted to answer, but somehow he couldn’t seem to form the words. He just stared at her.
“It could be nice, Jerry. Oh, there would be problems, but it could be pleasant, a coming together of two people, a true happiness.” She looked down at her coffee cup. “I wouldn’t even insist on marriage.” She laughed quietly. “Although I’d have a hell of a time explaining that to the children.” She looked at him.
He paused, looking away. “Well, I suppose anything is possible. But it’s more complicated than it appears, Regina. If you came to Washington to live.…”
Her smile was a bit wistful. “I read somewhere, I guess in a women’s magazine, that no man on earth would leave a career for the sake of a love affair, and no woman on earth would not. However, I think they really meant only unattached ladies.”
“Regina, I can understand how you feel about your children. God, I’m not asking you to leave them. Look, they’d love…”
She held up a hand. “I’ve heard all about you slick big-city lawyers.” She laughed, but there was no humor in it. “I know you have tricks to beat down a poor female’s determination.”
He felt sudden irritation. “Look, this isn’t some goddamn play.”
She looked at him. “No, it certainly isn’t, Jerry.” Her voice was soft, but firm. “It’s real life, and that’s what destroys some of the very best dreams. As I see it, my very first love, it’s really quite simple. If you want me, I’m yours. But this is my home, and you’ll have to come here. I don’t mean this to sound melodramatic, Jerry, but it really boils down to whether you want to continue your Washington life, or start a new one here, with me.”
“It isn’t that simple, Regina. Look, the divorce will take months. You could bring the kids down for a vacation. I’ll show you around. There are fantastic private schools there, I’ll take you around to those. You don’t have to decide now.”
She stood up. There was still a hint of a smile around her lips, but her eyes looked sad. “You’re right, I don’t,” she said, stepping over to his side of the table and gently kissing his forehead. “But you do, Jerry. You’re the one who has to make the decision.”
She was gone before he could even reply. His first instinct was to rush after her and continue the discussion, to persuade her. It was so damned important, it was his entire future!
He started to go after her but then he stopped. The slow realization began to sink in. She meant it. This was no female posturing, no game. He knew Regina and she just wasn’t capable of that, it wasn’t part of her nature. She was always honest, always straightforward. So there would be no compromise. She was an intelligent woman and he knew she had carefully thought the matter out. He too had been thinking, but not clearly.
He stood up and slowly put on his coat. This was not the time to consider his own personal problems, or his future. He must now think about his approach to Dean Pentecost. Green realized the importance of his mission. It would not only affect the nation’s law, but its destiny for many years to come. He knew it demanded his total concentration. A good lawyer was always capable of pushing his personal problems into the attic of his mind when the occasion demanded.
He was surprised as he trudged along with the moving stream of students that he couldn’t just command the thoughts of Regina to be banished from his consciousness.
However, as he sighted the prowlike law school in the distance he began to shift into thoughts about the man who ran that ship.
Answers, he desperately needed answers. If he couldn’t get any for his own problems, perhaps he could extract some from the dean, perhaps then his own thinking would clear to the point where he could solve his own riddle.
The impression that the law school was like a cathedral became stronger as he drew closer.
He wanted to think about Pentecost, but his brain felt numb, and he could muster no intelligent thought except a determination to carry out the task he had been assigned.
CHAPTER TEN
Green was escorted in
to Dean Pentecost’s office. The man behind the desk stood up and Jerry Green suddenly and vividly recalled his own image as he had seen it in the Smithsonian’s metal plate. Dean Roy Pentecost could easily pass as his brother, perhaps even his twin. They were both just under six feet tall and slightly stocky. The dean’s features matched his own; Pentecost presented a bland, pleasant face contrasted with sharp, intelligent eyes. Even their hair matched. Both men were gray at the temple and favored businesslike haircuts. They were the same age, a fact Green knew from the reports he had seen on the dean. They looked like they had picked out their suits together. Each wore a muted gray pinstripe with a conservative dark tie. The startling physical resemblance was obviously noted by the dean as he came around the desk and extended his hand.
“This is a pleasure, Mr. Green.” The dean’s handshake was firm but slightly moist, despite his apparent calm. He knew why Green was there.
“I’ve been looking forward to this, Dean Pentecost.”
Green realized that his own smile must be just like the dean’s, a pleasant expression, warm but not too open. They were playing each other’s game.
“Please call me Roy. When I’m addressed as dean I always feel like an Anglican clergyman.” The statement was smooth and practiced. Green presumed that it was the dean’s standard opening line, designed to show that he was just one of the boys, a true democrat, small “d.”
“It’s a pleasure to be back in the informality of the midwest. Please call me Jerry.”
The dean’s trim eyebrows raised slightly. “You’re originally from the midwest?” He said it as if it were some rather unpleasant secret, and best kept that way.
“You come from Connecticut,” Green said, his words more of a statement than a question.
“Yes. Please have a seat, Mr.… Jerry. Can I get you some coffee or tea perhaps?”
“I just finished having coffee. But don’t let that stop you.”
“I’m afloat. This job requires that you wander from one damn meeting to another. They all serve coffee, and, if you have no taste for it then your career’s at an end.” He allowed himself a quick smile, then his face relaxed again. “You said you come from the midwest, where?”
“Here.” Green made himself comfortable in a large chair in front of the dean’s desk. “As a matter of fact, right here. Michigan State. My father was a professor in the anthropology department. This is where I was raised.”
“Then this is a homecoming for you.” The smile only flickered now. “Do you have family here?”
“A brother. He’s also an anthropology professor.”
Pentecost nodded. “I’ve probably met him. You meet so many, but know so few. As I’m sure you know, academic life can be one round of teas, meetings, and similar get-togethers, all rather impersonal.”
“Yes, I remember.” Green glanced around the large office. It was done in a simple federalist style, good quality without show. The large desk was actually more of a long table. There were no personal items around the office; no framed diplomas or awards, no trophies, no personal photographs. The only decoration was a muted landscape done in oils. It was much like Jerry Green’s office back at Harley Dingell. Like the dean, he preferred no distractions, no trophies. It was really a bit of reverse ostentation. A visitor would know that a man like the dean, or Green, would have a number of diplomas, admission certificates, and other memorabilia. To hang none at all was to proclaim that there were so many that modesty forbade display. Also, it gave the workplace an austere, no-nonsense appearance. Green did note that the dean’s office was neater than his own, however.
“I suppose you find the campus changed?” The dean managed a pleasant half smile.
Green knew that his own expression matched exactly. “Well, with the addition of few new buildings there has been change, but I find somehow they seem to blend in with the older campus I know. I suppose it’s a bit like new neighbors on the block, it’s changed in a way, but it still remains the old block. More of a feeling than a fact, I suppose.”
“And the law school?” The dean’s expression never changed. He had an excellent face for poker.
Green leaned back in his chair. “You certainly have done wonders in such a short time.”
The dean shrugged. “I’m not so foolish as to start believing my own publicity, Mr. Green, er, Jerry. I’ve had a good many lucky breaks. First, the university trustees gave me an open checkbook.” He laughed. “If our football coach used my recruiting methods, our team would either be the national champion, or barred from football, depending on whether or not he was caught. There wasn’t much art to it, I merely identified the men who were known as the leading authorities in the basic legal fields and—how does it go?—made them an offer they couldn’t refuse.”
“Still, bringing those people in was quite an accomplishment.”
“There was a domino effect. When Bradford of Yale heard that Slocum of Harvard was coming, he signed aboard. My real challenge was getting the first big name, after that it was easy.”
“I think you’re downgrading what you’ve done.”
The dean shook his head. “Not really. I’m quite proud of what I’ve been able to accomplish. But I’m a realist. I have carefully dissected the elements that won for me. For instance, publicity. Most educators don’t fully realize what worlds can be accomplished with the skillful use of the media I believe I have a definite knack in that department. Perhaps I should have been a Hollywood public relations man. In any event, we were able to make the move of a professor from one school to another front page news. Again, a sort of domino effect took place. The first story paved the way. After the first story the media seemed to accept that such things must be news. They aren’t, of course, but we made them into front page items. It was quite an exhilarating time for me.”
“I can imagine. A bit tense too, I’ll wager.”
For the first time Green saw a true glimmer of the real man behind the placid mask. There was a flash of annoyance in the dean’s eyes, quickly hidden. “I suppose it should have been tense, but it wasn’t. I thoroughly enjoyed the whole thing. I felt no sense of anxiety, if that’s what you mean. For me, it was quite a grand adventure.”
The man was proud of his accomplishments, and justly so, but he resented any suggestion that he might experience the fears and feelings of normal men. That was pride for pride’s sake, and it presented an interesting facet to the man’s character. Green made a mental note.
“I called Martin Naham’s office. I believe you did tell one of my young ladies that the university president could vouch for you?”
“That’s right,” Green said. “I presume he told you that I had been checked out with the White House.”
“Yes. Although I was a bit mystified by your Harley Dingell card.”
“Why is that?”
The dean leaned forward, the same confident half smile fixed upon his features. “You were a partner there?”
“Yes.”
“Well, that’s what I mean. Usually the road leads the other way. Special counsel to the president and then out to a fancy law firm, not the other way around. Not usually anyway.”
Green wondered if the dean was really intimating that Green couldn’t last with a prestigious law firm and had retreated back to government work, or whether it was merely a probe to provoke and test reaction.
“I’m on a leave of absence from the firm,” Green responded. “I have some special duties to perform for the White House. When that’s done I will return to Harley Dingell.” He suddenly realized that his words sounded just as full of pride as had those of the dean.
“Fascinating.” Pentecost’s eyes were fixed on his own. The score was even, each man having made the other exhibit unseemly pride.
Green was irritated but took special pains not to show it. “I wonder if we could go for a short walk around the campus? The weather isn’t too bad. A bit chilly, but not much wind. Good walking weather.”
“A walk?” The bland exp
ression altered just a bit.
“Or a drive, if you like. I can get my car.”
The dean smiled. “May I ask why this preoccupation with the great outdoors?”
Green paused a moment before replying. It would be interesting to observe the man’s reaction to the words. “I understand you’ve had the building wired so that classes and conversations can be monitored.”
A flash of anger passed over the dean’s face, but only momentarily. He recovered and gave an almost playful shrug. “I can understand your concern,” he said. “But let me assure you that it’s only the classrooms that have the video monitoring equipment. And also be assured that it was installed for no sinister purpose.”
“I didn’t think that at all.”
The dean’s smile widened, but his eyes were without humor. “Then why the need for a walk?”
“I think better in the outdoors,” Green replied evenly, also smiling, and equally broadly.
The dean nodded. “I do monitor the classrooms, particularly the new instructors. Just as one minor flaw can render a great jewel almost valueless, an incapable or indifferent teacher can leave a dangerous void in an otherwise complete legal education. My purpose is to insure that the students here are receiving superior instruction. We hire the best-qualified people, but sometimes references don’t tell the full story. If I didn’t keep close check, this school could develop soft spots that would show up later, far too late for anything to be done to correct the problem. Thus, the monitoring.”
“Still, you must admit that it is an unusual practice for a law school.”
The dean never changed expression. “Perhaps, but this is an unusual law school, Mr. Green, ah, Jerry. In a matter of only a very few years we have become the equal of such regal institutions as Harvard, Stanford, and the other handful of prestigious national law schools. I have used unusual methods to bring that result about. But monitoring is certainly nothing new in education. In fact, this system is a duplicate of one used in a large Catholic high school in Chicago. The Mother Superior there had the control panel set up right in her office.” He laughed. “I saw it. It looked like the cockpit of a commercial airliner, all gauges and dials. Now the good sister was not sinister certainly, nor paranoid. She just wanted to see that the children, whose parents were paying a very high dollar in tuition, were getting full value for their educational money. And that is also my purpose.” He seemed to almost stare at Green. “My only purpose.”
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