An Oxford Scandal
Page 23
‘ “Strong in Faith”,’ she said. ‘Anthony, would you be strong in faith to me, if I gave my consent to marry you? The Gorringes are very careful for my reputation, and they have quite rightly left me under no illusions about you. You have a roving eye, sir.’
‘I will strive to mend my ways. When will you tell me your decision?’
‘You see, Anthony,’ said Elodie Deschamps, ‘I am not an Englishwoman, content to become the appendage of a man. There is more to a Frenchwoman’s life than that. You know that I am Archivist of the Frankish Library at Aix la Chapelle? That is a post of great distinction. I came here to deliver a lecture at St James’s College on Philip II of France and his secret correspondence with King John. Am I to give all this up to help Mrs Green wash up the pots and pans at 7 Culpeper Gardens?’
They both found themselves laughing; their reaction was part of a mutuality that would bind them together when the time came. But that time, they both knew, was not yet.
‘I am willing to become engaged to you, Anthony,’ said Elodie, ‘but there must be a long courtship, in which we visit each other’s countries, and immerse ourselves in each other’s academic disciplines. I will not live with you out of wedlock, but I will travel the world with you if that will help to bring us truly together. Are you content?’
Anthony Jardine stood in silence for a moment on the library steps. He thought of Dora, and how happy they had been in their younger days. He had neglected her, and she had responded by losing interest in herself, and succumbing to drug addiction. Poor, dear Dora! She would always remain hoarded in his heart.
He thought of Rachel Noble then. He had loved her, too, after a fashion, but she had not really loved him at all. That had come as a salutary blow to his pride. Her husband had been declared permanently insane, and had been committed to Headington Asylum.
And what of Jean Hillier? He had seen her a few days earlier in the High Street, arm-in-arm with the contemptible Dr Bruce Preston-Jones, whom she was bent on reforming. Some folk could never rid themselves of the illusion that they were born to reform their fellow men. Well, good luck to them!
He had told Elodie of his brain tumour, and she had accepted it as something that they would face together. So be it. He was in the hands of Providence.
He came out of his reverie and saw Elodie looking at him in some amusement.
‘Well, Anthony Jardine,’ she said, ‘you have heard my terms, and so I repeat: Are you content?’
‘Yes, Madame Deschamps,’ said Mr Jardine, ‘I am content.’
A bird of ill omen, a rook or raven, flapped its way through the clear winter sky on its journey from Magdalen Old Deer Park to its lair in Christchurch Meadow. It paused in its flight above the old college tower, turned on the wing, and flew off to bestow its maledictions elsewhere.
The End
Author’s Note
Sophia Jex-Blake (1840 – 1912) was one of a group of remarkable women who laboured for the right of their sex to become doctors. Two of her fellow students at Queen’s College, Harley Street, in 1858 were Dorothea Beale, who became Head of Cheltenham Ladies’ College, and Frances May Buss, founder of the North London Collegiate School for Girls. Sophia’s elder brother, Thomas Jex-Blake, became Headmaster of Rugby in 1874. One of his daughters, Katharine, became Mistress of Girton College, Cambridge. Another, Henrietta, succeeded Elizabeth Wordsworth as principal of Lady Margaret Hall in 1909.
Notes
* * *
1An Oxford Tragedy; An Oxford Anomaly
2An Oxford Tragedy; An Oxford Anomaly
3An Oxford Tragedy; An Oxford Anomaly
4An Oxford Anomaly
5An Oxford Anomaly