This morning, accordingly, Ruth wore a lavender smock printed with small white daisies to protect her loden skirt – the property of Miss Violet who had a number of such garments in which to serve tea at the Willow. It was not what Ruth would have chosen to wear in a laboratory, but she had accepted gratefully, as she had accepted the virulently varnished pencil box decorated with pink hearts which Mrs Burtt had bought for her from Woolworth’s. Also in Ruth’s straw basket was her lunch – a bread roll in a paper bag – and a bunch of dandelions she had picked to give the sheep in the basement; and her hair, piled high on her head for purposes of experimentation, was bound by a piece of Uncle Mishak’s gardening twine.
At this extremely unscientific apparition, Verena stared for a few moments in perhaps justifiable distress.
Then she said: ‘I think it would be inadvisable for two newcomers to work together.’
The snub was unmistakable. Ruth flushed and turned away, and Verena proceeded to don a snow-white and perfectly starched lab coat before she decided on the partner of her choice. The group round Miss Berger was obviously unsuitable and a possible candidate – a handsome, fair-haired young man – moved away to another bench before she could catch his eyes. But hovering rather flatteringly near her was a nicely turned-out youth, tall and thin, with sandy hair which he kept short and under control.
‘What about you?’ she said to Kenneth Easton.
She had made an excellent choice. Kenneth, who watched birds (but only if they were rare) was a conscientious, painstaking young man who now saw his career take off under this august patronage and moved eagerly to her side.
‘I hope she chokes to death,’ said Sam viciously, looking across at Verena. But of course she didn’t. While the sycophantic Kenneth stood beside her, ready to receive the contents of her stomach, Verena lifted the rubber tube to her mouth – and calmly, competently, in a series of python-like gulps, she swallowed it.
Because there were so many more men than women at Thameside, and because they were so very disposed to be friendly, Ruth told everyone early on about Heini: that he was coming, that he was incredibly gifted, that she meant – after she got her degree – to spend her life with him.
‘What’s he like?’ asked Janet.
‘He’s got curly dark hair and grey eyes and he plays like no one else in the world. You’ll hear him when he comes – at least you will when I’ve got the piano.’
Heini’s existence was a blow to Sam, but he took it well, deciding to play a Lancelot-like role in Ruth’s life which would be better for his degree than a public passion – and he, and all Ruth’s friends, quite understood that if Ruth only joined those clubs that were free, or refused to come to The Angler’s Arms after college, it was because any spare money she might collect in tips at the Willow had to go into Heini’s jam jar. And soon even Huw Davies (the Welshman who was not called Morgan) could be seen staring into the windows of piano shops, for there is nothing more infectious than involvement in a noble cause.
Afterwards, Ruth wished that there hadn’t been that week at the beginning of term when Quin was not yet back from Scotland. She heard too much about Professor Somerville’s achievements, his intelligence, the wonderful things he had done for his students.
‘I’d give my soul to be taken on one of his trips,’ said Sam, ‘but I haven’t a chance; not even if I got a First. There’s always a queue of people waiting to go.’
Even Janet, who had such a poor opinion of the male sex and continued to bite the heads off her unsuccessful suitors in the manner of the wind spider in the Natural History Museum, spoke well of him.
‘His lectures are really good – he sort of opens up the world for you. And there’s absolutely no side to him. It makes my blood boil to hear Verena go on as though she owns him – she hasn’t even
But it was from Pilly that Ruth heard most about Professor Somerville. Priscilla might be unable to grasp the concept of radial symmetry in the jellyfish, but her loving heart made her perceptive and skilful where the needs of her friends were concerned, and she now decided that Ruth was not getting enough lunch.
This was true. Ruth had told Leonie that lunch in the refectory was free. She then got off the tube three stops early, used the tuppence she saved to buy a bread roll, and ate it by the river. Ruth was entirely satisfied with this arrangement, but Pilly was not, and on Ruth’s third day at Thameside she asked if she might bring a picnic and join her.
‘Wouldn’t you rather go into the refectory?’
‘No, I wouldn’t. The food doesn’t agree with me,’ lied Pilly.
