Laila turned another page. “Have you talked to Bohr?”
Else winced. She couldn’t printFrit Danmarkwithout asking permission from Niels Bohr. How could she use institute resources and bring danger to its doors without asking the director? Although Bohr was known to be sympathetic to the resistance, Else hadn’t worked up the courage to ask him. Especially not today. “Not yet. I’m sorry.”
“All right,” Laila said in a tight voice, as if Else’s reluctance turned a knob on her vocal cords, every day another twist.
Else willed the words in her novel to enter her mind. But they scattered.
“You’re quiet tonight,” Laila said.
The students’ chatter over dinner had masked Else’s silence. “Bad day.”
“What did Mortensen do this time?”
“I don’t want to talk about it.” She turned a page, not that it mattered.
Laila swiveled on the sofa toward her. “Come on. I can see you’re upset.”
“It—it’s too humiliating.” Else’s shoulders hunched, as if to block the words she’d heard.
“What did he do?” Laila said in that fierce voice of hers.
Trapped. Else laid down her book and rubbed her temples. “I wasn’t supposed to hear. I overheard him.”
“What did he say?”
Across the room, Hemming bent over his knees, whittling, with a line of wooden animals on the little table beside him as if marching to Noah’s Ark.
Laila nudged her. “Else?”
The sympathy in her friend’s voice undid her and set her lips to quivering and her mouth to speaking. “I was returning from his errand. He was in the corner talking to Gebhardt.” Her throat squeezed shut.
“Yes?”
Else pulled herself together. “Mortensen said I was trying to be both a physicist and a woman, and I should choose one or the other. Because I don’t do either well.”
“This must stop.” Hemming’s voice boomed from across the room.
Else sucked in her breath.
He was every bit the Viking warrior with his brows low and his eyes burning.
Then his expression collapsed, and he sat back in his chair. “I’m sorry.”
Else shook her head. “No need to apologize. This is a common room. And—” And what did it matter who heard? Mortensen had only voiced what everyone believed. She was defective as a woman.
Laila leaned forward. “What did you say, Hemming? This must stop? How Mortensen treats Else? I agree. It’s horrible.”
Hemming glanced to his animal parade. “Else, what is your—favorite animal?”
He was changing the subject in a bumbling way, which only made it sweeter. She took a shaky breath. “I love dogs.”
Hemming ran his hand along the tabletop, picked up a figurine, and crossed the room. “Why? Because dogs are friendly and loving and loyal?”
Else stared way up at him. “Yes. Yes, that’s why.”
Hemming switched his gaze to Laila. “Like Else, ja?”
“Ja.” Laila hugged Else’s arm. “Friendly and loving and loyal.”
