“Don’t try to be clever, Imogen dearest,” she purred. “It doesn’t suit you.”
“So, Jasper’s back at St. Dunstan’s?”
“Yes, he seemed very disappointed when I spoke to him.” Venetia shook back her moonlight hair.
“You’ve seen him already?”
“Did he say anything aboutyou-know-what?”
“Oh, about”—Venetia looked up, the tiniest smile playing across her doll features—“being president of the Society?”
Julia spat a mouthful of water into her cream silk lap.
“What?” Venetia crossed one long, leather-clad leg over the other luxuriantly. Some people only feel truly at ease surrounded by discomfort. Particularly other people’s. Venetia Kent was one such. “We’re not five years old. This supersecret society nonsense is idiotic. But Jasper did tell me, actually. Now he’s back—”
At this point, Emma’s chair let out a loud scraping noise. She hastily rearranged herself. By the time Julia opened the door, she was facing innocently to the front, her hands clasped over the folder in her lap.
“Oh.” The disappointment in Julia’s voice was hard to miss.She was looking over Emma’s head to the row of empty chairs. “Well—why don’t you come in.”
Emma scurried past her to the seat facing the panel.
“But aren’t we seeing Arabella Lennox and that girl from Jules’ dressage club?”
“They were supposed to be here,” Julia murmured fretfully. “I suppose the rain—”
“What, Tilly Harper-Graveney?” Imogen added. “Or that other one? Daughter of the Sotheby’s chairman. Came to Eddie’s birthday in Antibes—”
“Daisy Cadogan,” muttered Julia, shuffling the papers in front of her.
“That’s the one,” said Imogen. “I thought it was all sorted that she’d get the Natural Sciences Fellowship and Arabella would—”
Julia had the grace to look embarrassed. “Nothing’s decided. That’s why we’re interviewing candidates like, er—”
“Emma. Emma Curran.”
Julia dove back through her pile of papers. “That’s right, I saw my father’s assistant had added an application. I hadn’t read it yet. For the Science and Environment endowment? Let’s see.”
Emma knotted her fingers in her lap. Julia’s delicate nose was buried deep in her binder.
“Application—conserving and renewing river habitats,” she muttered. “Tracking population balances, find where to invest to make the most difference versus climate change—two-year trial here in the city. This is—” She looked up, a little wrinkle of surprise between her brows. “Well, it’s exactly what we were looking for. Practical and academic. Local, but the end product is a model that could be applied anywhere.”
She tapped her forefingers together, lost in thought. Then her gaze snapped back to Emma. “But it says here that you study law. Not natural sciences. An odd fit for a science endowment, surely?”
“Technically. But I’ve spent a lot of time around field research. I’ve had hands-on experience. There’s a summary in my proposal—”
Emma slid it across the table. The shaking in her hands eased as she opened to the page on her methodology. The hours she had spent working on the tables and figures showed. What did it matter if her last three law essays had been handed in late?
“Emma, the Colefax-Lee Foundation Fellowships will support ten female students,” Julia said. “With projects that will change the world, from the arts to the sciences. It is a significant investment in significant women.” Her voice was beautiful, low and modulated. Emma couldn’t imagine speaking with such poise. “So. Why do you think you deserve one of those ten fellowships?” Julia asked.
Firm,Emma reminded herself.Firmness suits me.
She began her rehearsed speech. “Rivers. They are key—”
“What year is she in?” Venetia rocked back in her chair. “You can’t have another fresher, Jules. The first one was ghastly.”
“Well, I’m a second-year,” Emma answered. “Undergraduate, at Gabriel College.”
“Second-year at Gabriel?” Julia leaned forward. “But that’s the same as me. How have I never seen you before?”
