After a brief delay, I present you with the next chapter! Huge thanks to Be Rose for your review of chapter 5; I always appreciate that encouragement. :)
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Chapter 6:
"Nicholas, please come see me before you leave."
Nick paused in packing his books and stared down at Dr. Richardson, standing expectantly at the front of the lecture hall. "Of course," he finally said, hoping he hadn't made some horrendous error in the previous week's exam. He thought the patient examination had gone well. He had asked all the questions, followed all the protocols, and maintained a "level of professionalism appropriate to a man of learning," as he had been instructed. Surely he hadn't forgotten anything?
"For God's sake, Nick, don't look so panicked," Richardson snorted as Nick scampered towards him. "You passed your examination with flying colors, if that's what you're worried about."
Nick came to an abrupt halt in front of his amused professor. "Oh. Good," he managed to say. "Uh, why do you need to speak with me?"
"Maria's articles have arrived," Richardson replied. Reaching beneath the lectern at which he delivered his lessons, he pulled forth a large stack of papers. "The library delivered them to my office this morning."
"How wonderful," Nick breathed, taking Auttenberg's papers into his hands with a reverence rarely seen in any religious tradition. "How did they come so soon?" he asked.
"Maria ordered them sent as soon as she returned to her university. Mail service is so much faster nowadays, what with the new railways being laid." Richardson frowned, as though unsure what he thought about such dangerous, modern contraptions.
"God bless the railways," Nick said, smiling broadly. "And thank you very much, Dr. Richardson. These will be very helpful."
"Thank Maria. Most professors of her stature are far too busy to remember the request of a mere medical student. And to think she sent the entire volume of work." Richardson seemed almost irritated, and Nick could not quite determine why.
"By any chance," he ventured, "did you have to pay the postage?"
Richardson smiled wryly. "So much for my spending money. Don't worry about it, Nick. I was happy to help."
Nick emerged from the lecture hall grinning ear to ear. He was still beaming half an hour later, when he burst through the front door of the Ormandy house. He was greeted by a terrified squeak.
"Hello, Rapunzel," he said happily. "Did I startle you?"
"Very much," she said, placing her hands on either side of her head and grinning at him. "I was just on my way to the study to select a new book to read."
"How lovely," Nick remarked. "Is Mother at home?"
"No, Mrs. Ormandy went to call upon a friend." Rapunzel paused a moment before asking, "Will and Mr. Ormandy return tomorrow, don't they?"
"Ah, I believe so. It's been an unsually long trip, but I expect we'll see them tomorrow or the day after." Nick closed the door behind him and checked to make sure he hadn't dropped any of the precious papers. It was a shame most of the pages were unbound.
"Or the day after," Rapunzel sighed. She looked down and examined her attire – a blue muslin dress with lace at the elbows. "I should have saved this dress for when Will returns."
"You can always wear it again," Nick said with a shrug. "It'll be new to Will, at any rate. Is that one of the dresses that Mother bought for you?"
Rapunzel grinned sheepishly. "The material is rather fine."
"As it should be. It looks quite well on you." It looked rather dazzling on her, as a matter of fact, but that was for Will to say, and no one else.
"Thank you," she said with quiet graciousness. Her eyes drifted to the windows of the front hall, much to Nick's satisfaction. He had been worrying about Rapunzel ever since her shopping trip with Madeline. The excursion had evidently been rather traumatizing, though Rapunzel insisted she enjoyed herself. The fabrics and ribbons thrilled her, the crowds of the city terrified her, and the many stares her hair received rendered her extremely uncomfortable. At times, she had begun to shake. Yet when Nick expressed concern that the excursion had been too much for her, she had seemed almost offended.
Despite her insistence that the trip had done no damage to her psyche, she had remained mostly indoors ever since that fateful shopping trip. Although Will had insisted that his fiancee seemed perfectly fine, Nick had worried that she might never go out again. For that reason, he was relieved to see her now gazing out the hall windows into the street beyond. Perhaps she would venture out again soon.
He smiled at her and gestured for her to follow him down the hall. "I'll join you in the study," he said as he marched through his capacious home. "I've just received a rather precious package.
"What is it?" Rapunzel asked, trailing behind him. "May I see?"
"I doubt you'll find it very interesting," Nick replied, "but you may." Together they entered the study, a cozy, book-lined room where the men of the family did their work. Of the two desks lined against the far wall, one belonged to Nick and Will. Nick laid Auttenberg's papers on the surface of the desk as Rapunzel peered curiously over his shoulder.
She frowned at the many unfamiliar words in the titles of the papers. "What is 'genetics'?" she asked.
"The study of genes, which are the little segments of information that make us who we are, and how those genes are passed on from generation to generation."
Rapunzel blinked. "That sounds deeply confusing," she remarked.
"Deeply confusing, but deeply fascinating."
"Well, I hope you enjoy your papers. They look terrifically boring to me." She gave her future brother-in-law a somewhat patronizing smile.
Nick ignored this slight upon Auttenberg's work. "My hope is that these works will help me understand what's going on with your hair. Can I examine you, once I've read up on the subject a little bit?"
Frowning, Rapunzel deposited herself in Henry Ormandy's chair and began examining the books he had left on his desk. "How would you examine me?"
"I don't know; I haven't sorted everything out yet." Nick lowered himself into his own chair and swiveled it around so that he could face Rapunzel. They were rather close together, so it was an easy thing for him to reach out and take hold of the end of her braid. "Won't it be excellent to know what's behind this marvelous hair?" he asked.
"I suppose so," the girl replied, though she sounded rather skeptical. She watched Nick with an unreadable expression as he examined the strands of hair in his hand. "I don't think you'll find anything from just staring at the hair, though."
Chastened, he dropped the braid. "That's why I need to read. I'll know what to look for once I've finishd with these papers from Maria Auttenberg."
Rapunzel was silent for a moment. Nick was about to say more on the subject of genetics when she abruptly asked, "Do you really think my hair is marvelous?"
"What?"
"You used the word 'marvelous,'" Rapunzel said, looking at him with a steady gaze.
"It's certainly a very interesting phenomenon. A marvel, if you will."
She sighed and began tugging at her braid. "Maybe it's too marvelous. Maybe the rest of me can't compare to it."
Nick was rather confused at where this discourse was going. A conversation with Rapunzel was always rather unpredictable; her moods were extremely changeable. "What are you talking about?"
Rapunzel was swiveling back and forth in her chair, talking mostly to herself. "Maybe Will only wanted to bring me here because my hair seemed exotic and interesting, and the rest of me is just boring, and that's why he's always gone so much, because he doesn't really care to talk to me, and when he comes back he doesn't have much that he wants to talk about…"
"Rapunzel, I don't think this train of thought is particularly healthy," Nick suddenly interrupted. He was somewhat alarmed at the deep despondency in her voice. "Will leaves town for business. He would stay if he could."
"Would he?" She did not sound at all convinced.
"Yes," Nick firmly replied. "I know he's been away quite often, but Will could not possibly grow bored of you."
"Do you think I'm boring?"
Nick sighed. How had it fallen to him to bolster this young woman's self-esteem? Surely that task should belong to her fiance. "Of course not. Look at the conversation we've been having. It hasn't been boring, has it?"
"No, but…"
"But what?"
"But that's because you're interesting, with your genetics and your papers and all that." She stared into her lap, fiddling with a ribbon on her dress.
"It takes two interesting people to sustain an interesting conversation," Nick insisted. "Don't worry about this sort of thing, Rapunzel. Or if you can't help but worry, you should talk to Will about your concerns when he comes back."
"It's not always so easy to talk about serious things with him," she muttered into her lap.
This conversation was going nowhere. As far as Nick could tell, what Rapunzel needed was a distraction to draw her mind from her fiance's absence. Nick had hoped to spend the next day reading Auttenberg's papers, but it seemed his energy was needed elsewhere. Coming to a sudden decision, he quickly stood and extended his hand to help Rapunzel rise, as well. "I think you've been cooped up here too long. I propose an excursion tomorrow."
"Into town again?" As Rapunzel took his hand and rose to her feet, her eyes flashed with a mixture of fear and excitement.
"Yes. I'll surprise you with an adventure tomorow morning. What do you say? Does that sound like an agreeable way to pass the time until Will returns?"
After a brief hesitation, Rapunzel smiled. "Yes," she replied. "Show me an adventure."
As always, thanks for reading, and let me know what you think!