Unexpectedly, a lump formed in her throat. It was silly, perhaps, to care so much about a collection of plants that could kill someone so easily, but she did. She was so very glad to find them alive and well and not sitting at the back of some classroom rotting away. They couldn’t help being dangerous, after all. The tropical pigmentation study was the only forthcoming project she had, and thus far the only thing keeping her from losing her position at the U.
“All’s well?” asked Alexander from behind her.
She turned to the man who had apparently saved her plants and her study. “Not that I mind you brought them in here—you’ve done a wonderful job tending them—but why?”
He crossed his arms over his chest, a hip leaning against his desk. “I thought they had a better chance of survival if they were not in the greenhouses.”
“You doubt Mr. Winters’s ability to tend to them? Or you were concerned for your reputation if the samples you retrieved did not bear fruit?” Her questions were meant to come out teasing, but she couldn’t conceal the growing certainty that she really didn’t want to know why Alexander had taken her plants from the greenhouse.
“I overheard some people talking about how it would be rather amusing should some of your specimens be found to be ineligible for your study.”
Any buoyancy she’d felt at finding her plants faded at this confirmation, her mood returning to the same low levels as when she’d left Aster’s office. “I appreciate you rescuing them, then.”
“I was happy to,” he said, his gaze not leaving hers.
No doubt Alexander knew that saving her specimens was the surest way to her heart. She’d nearly melted in a puddle on the greenhouse floor when he’d shown her the collection when he returned in October, and he would remember that. She’d not be so easily swayed to forgiveness, even if the instinct to throw herself into his arms in gratitude was strong.
She turned back to the makeshift terrariums. “I’m going to help your brother, you know. That was never in question, even if every last one of my specimens died. I just wish this entire thing didn’t feel like an act to secure my cooperation.” She risked a look behind her to see his reaction.
Alexander’s dark eyes flashed. He stepped into her space, making her lift her chin. “Nothing,” he said with quiet intensity, “about this is an act, Saffron.”
His palm met her cheek, his fingers brushing her neck. Then he was leaning down, bringing his face to hers …
She leaped away from him half a second before the office door swung open. “Mr. Ashton—” Mr. Ferrand paused with his head just inside the door, his open mouth snapping shut as he took in Saffron and Alexander standing close together. “Ouf!My apologies, my apologies.” He made to duck out.
Face burning, Saffron called to him. “Wait, Monsieur Ferrand.”
He opened the door just wide enough for his shoulders and smiled broadly. “I see you have already found each other.Quelle chance, eh?”
“Very good luck,” Saffron said, giving him an exasperated look. “You might have mentioned Mr. Ashton had my specimens. I was quite concerned.”
“I can see that now,mon amie, and I apologize once more.” He winked at her. “Good day,adieu.”
Saffron huffed when he closed the door. The sooner she left this office the better. She had loads to do, the first of which would be figuring out the finer points of the miniature terrariums. She nudged the cart experimentally and found it was heavy but not impossible.
“I can move them to your office for you,” Alexander offered. “I would suggest keeping them in your office until you can have a word with Mr. Winters.”
That was advice she would certainly be taking. “I can manage it myself. Thank you for all you’ve done.” She looked up and saw he wore a strange expression. “I’ll go to Inspector Green at lunch and see what I can do for your brother.”
“It isn’t that.” He shot her a sheepish smile. “I’ll miss those plants. We’ve become rather good friends.”
It was infuriating that he’d decided to be so utterly charming. Why couldn’t he have been like this when he came back from Brazil, rather than behaving like a disgruntled badger?
She gave him a tight smile. “I suppose you are welcome to visit them at your leisure.”
“I’ll do that.”
It was inelegant work, navigating the cart with the jars and lamp to her office, and she had no doubt it made for an interesting spectacle for the students. But once she and her samples were safely ensconcedin her office, among her books and cuttings and files, she felt as if all was right in the world, though she knew quite well it was not.
Catching up on her work was slow but not as intimidating as she’d feared. Budgets for second term were due soon, and the following week would bring the college faculty meeting where she would be expected to present a brief report on her current project. She’d have to prepare a statement that promised progress while striking the perfect balance of confidence and humility, knowledgeability and openness to learning. All while making sure her appearance did not detract from her presentation by being too eye-catching or too dowdy.
She turned to herStrychnos toxiferaseedlings, which she’d placed directly on her desk beneath the articulating lamp. “It is wildly unfair, isn’t it?”
When her stomach began to growl, she pulled out the sandwich Elizabeth had left for her and ate it while she reviewed what she knew of Adrian Ashton’s situation.
Alexander hadn’t told her much. Adrian had shared a train compartment with a man who was a horticulturalist who’d appeared unwell before he died, supposedly of some sort of poisoning. She knew less about Adrian himself, just that he was older than Alexander and was also a veteran of the Great War. Alexander had suggested that his brother had also required treatment from doctors, but she didn’t have a clue as to what for. Alexander had received a serious injury from a grenade, leaving him with scarring on his right arm and possibly elsewhere. He also struggled with shell shock, though Saffron knew he’d worked hard to overcome it with meditation.
When her ham and cheese sandwich was finished, Saffron donned her coat and hat and left the university. If Adrian was similarly blighted by shell shock, and the police knew about it, that could be troublesome. The prejudice against those with the mysterious affliction could be strong, and if Adrian had given them any reason to believe he was unstable, they could have leaped on him as a suspect simply because many believed those afflicted with shell shock were prone to violence.
