Gabriel’s Inferno Trilogy by Sylvain Reynard Page 0,557

Her original application and writing sample were very good. It was her machinations that were her downfall. Then she made the colossal error of going up against Katherine. That made Lucia nervous.”

“Why?”

“Katherine is one of the best in her field. If anyone wants to publish in Dante studies, or write a grant for support, or try to get a job, people look to her for her opinion. If she approves of you, she’ll say so. If she doesn’t, she’ll say that, too. No one wants to alienate her in case they need her support some day. That includes Lucia and her department.”

Julia pursed her lips.

“I didn’t want Christa’s life to be ruined. I just wanted her to leave us alone.”

“She did this to herself. She had several opportunities to rethink her choices, and she didn’t. No one made her go to Oxford and try to sabotage you, or to do mediocre work at Columbia.”

“I suppose you’re right.” Julia rested her head on the pillow. “Academia is the strangest place.”

“Bit like Mars, really. Except with more sex.”

Julia laughed. “I’m glad Katherine approves of me. I shudder to think what would happen if she didn’t.”

“Me, too. But in any case, I’ll speak to Greg Matthews and make sure the rumors about us are quashed.”

“Don’t call in a favor for that. I might need his help with something else.”

“Like what?”

“Katherine thinks I need to take a maternity leave. She wants me to speak to Cecilia about it.”

Gabriel stroked the arches of her eyebrows with his fingers.

“And what do you want?”

“I have to talk to Cecilia. But I was hoping to wait until I’m in my second trimester. Most mis—” She caught Gabriel’s eye and stumbled over the word. “—problems occur in the first trimester.”

“If you want to take a maternity leave, you should. If you don’t want to, you don’t have to. I’m going on leave regardless. After the paternity leave, they owe me a sabbatical. I could be home with the baby for two years.”

“Isn’t there some rule about not taking a leave and a sabbatical back to back?”

“Probably.” Gabriel began caressing her lower back. “But I have it written into my contract that they give me a sabbatical the year after next. It was part of their job offer.”

“I’d hate to see you waste your sabbatical,” she said quietly.

His hand rested in the hollow of her lower back.

“What part of spending time with the baby would be wasted?”

“You won’t be able to finish your book.”

“I’m sure I’ll have time to write. Even if I didn’t, it would be worth it. Talk to Cecilia and see what she says. But whatever you do, don’t worry. I made promises to you, and I intend to keep them.”

Julia smiled. “That’s the only reason why I’m not freaking out.”

He gazed at her intensely. “Good.”

Chapter Seventy-four

April 2012

So, Julianne, what can I do for you?” Cecilia Marinelli ushered her graduate student into her office, gesturing to a comfortable chair near the large desk.

Cecilia was just under five feet tall, with bobbed dark hair and blue eyes. She was from Pisa, originally, and spoke English with an accent.

“I came to ask your advice.” Julia began wringing her hands.

“Ask.” Cecilia gave Julia an encouraging look.

“Um, I’m going to have a baby.”

“Congratulations! This is good news, yes?” Cecilia switched to Italian, smiling widely.

Julia answered her in Italian. “Yes. Very good news. Uh, but I’m due in September, right at the beginning of the semester.”

Cecilia shrugged. “Then you take maternity leave and return the next year.”

“I don’t want to fall behind in my program, so I’m not going to take a maternity leave.”

Professor Marinelli shook her head. “This is not the best idea. Normally, in your third year, you would teach in the fall and take your linguistics course plus another class. Then you would write your general exams in the winter. Since your baby comes in September, I think your teaching and coursework would have to be delayed until January. Then you will be studying for your exams at the same time. This is too much.” Cecilia’s tone was not unkind.

“I didn’t realize that.” Julia’s voice sounded shaky and small.

“You do what you like, but certainly, I would take maternity leave.”

“Really?”

Cecilia sat back in her chair for a moment. “It will be too much for you to put all these things in one semester. Your colleagues will have the advantage of you in their general exams. And you cannot fail. So, to make things fair, you take maternity leave for