Lessons in Discovery Read Online Free PDF Page A

other clues to its provenance, so it was added to the many mysteries he had to solve.
    What he didn’t find, as Jonty had carefully removed them
    two days earlier, were any of the little signs that the room
    occasionally had a second occupant. Even the spare key to Jonty’s 26
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    Lessons in Discovery
    set of rooms, which had been affixed to Orlando’s key ring, had
    been whisked away and no trace of it left behind.
    Orlando was allowed to go to dinner in hall on the
    understanding that he retire early and be sensible. He was
    dreading it but knew the ordeal would have to be endured at some point. There would be questions, concern and fuss, none of which he wanted. As it was, he was met en route by Stewart, who’d sped back from a late meeting with a motley collection of English
    fellows to accompany his friend to High Table. Jonty provided an effective shield, telling all who began to make a nuisance of
    themselves that Nurse Hatfield had insisted that Coppersmith
    wasn’t to be harassed. Anyone who tried to do so had to go to sick bay and report to her as to why the instruction had been
    disobeyed. No one was likely to risk having to do any such thing.
    Going to the SCR afterwards had been something that Jonty
    had been, if not dreading, then ill at ease with. He was still unsure how Orlando was going to react to the pair of them sitting so
    close, but he needn’t have worried. Orlando had been thinking it all out and had deduced that Jonty would occupy the seat next to his. “It’s only logical that, if we’re friends, we must sit together here.”
    Jonty felt a wave of relief sweep over him. He desperately
    wanted to say something like This is where we first met but that would have sounded far too romantic, so he settled for, “This is exactly where we first ran into each other. I sat in your chair and you were officious beyond all belief. ‘Well, Stewart,’ you said,
    ‘we are great ones for resisting change and the particular chair a man inhabits after High Table is regarded as sacrosanct.’” It was an uncanny impression of Orlando’s tone on the day.
    Orlando frowned. “I never said that, did I? Not in that
    voice?”
    “You did, you were a terrible grouch then. You seem to have
    lightened up no end.”

    www.lindenbayromance.com 27
    Charlie Cochrane
    They drank their coffee and chatted pleasantly in the dark,
    comfortable room, Orlando pointing out several of their fellow
    dons and wanting to have the latest information about them. Jonty noticed the signs of weariness gradually creeping over his friend’s face and laid his now-empty cup down in a gesture that spoke of
    time to go . “Does Nurse allow you to take a drink? I notice you were abstemious during the meal.”
    “Oh, a little one would be allowable, but it’s a bit late now.”
    “I have an excellent port in my room. It’s on the way back to
    your set and you could spare ten minutes, surely, to celebrate your release from incarceration?”
    Orlando smiled, with slight hesitation. “A small one and a
    swift one. That would be fine.”
    They slowly made their way over to his set, Jonty nervously
    scrutinising every step Orlando took on the stairs and making sure he stayed behind him this time, just in case he was needed to play wicketkeeper.
    Jonty led the way in, ushered his guest towards a chair, then
    found the decanter, pouring a small libation for them both. “This was always your favourite seat, Orlando.” Jonty pointed to the
    sagging but comfy armchair where Orlando was wont to stretch
    out his legs in front of the fire. He felt the other man’s sudden unease and looked up. “Orlando? What’s the matter?”
    “No one outside my family has called me by my Christian
    name since I was a boy. I’ve always been Dr. Coppersmith here at St. Bride’s. Even with you these last few days. What has
    changed?”
    Jonty swallowed hard and attempted a reassuring smile. “It’s
    been Jonty and Orlando in our