Mystery at Girton
Disclaimer: Lucy Pevensie and her siblings, together with all other characters and places from the Chronicles of Narnia are the creation of C. S. Lewis. Cambridge University and its associated colleges, including Girton are real places, but all the staff and students depicted herein are fictional. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead is coincidental.
Chapter 7 An Unwelcome Proposition
Lucy bit her lip to restrain herself from uttering a word that English society did not consider appropriate language for a young lady, and that was even more inappropriate for a Narnian Queen.
Her experiment had been going so well up to now. This was the second practical exercise in the Organic Chemistry course. In contrast to the first the preparation was actually quite simple; a single step synthesis of aspirin. Of course nothing is ever actually that simple and the twist was that after making the aspirin it's purity had to be assayed by titration with caustic soda.
This was where the problems had arisen. Her initial rough titration had been accomplished very quickly and she was halfway through the first accurate one when her burette had blocked.
Lucy tapped the nozzle of the burette, hoping to free whatever was blocked, with no success whatsoever.
"What's wrong?" Sumita asked, from the bench next to hers.
"My burette is blocked!" Lucy said in irritation.
Sumita came over to have a look, peering closely at the nozzle.
"I can't see anything," she said after a moment. "It looks like the blockage must be in the tap itself."
"That's what I thought," Lucy said. "I think I'll have to go to the technician and get a new one!"
She tipped the remaining solution out of the glass tube, into the sink. Leaving Sumita, she walked to the front of the laboratory to the counter where the lab technicians dispensed chemicals and apparatus to the students.
The technician was a short pallid-faced man with greasy hair, whom Lucy had already developed a hearty dislike for. The sole reason for that was that he obviously disliked her, but she was not alone in that. Unlike those who resented her because of her gender, this man appeared to loathe all students equally. Lucy has speculated that he found his own student days unsatisfactory, perhaps had greater ambitions than being a technician but had failed to make the most of his opportunities and now resented those who still had them. She and Sumita though had joked rather flippantly that his attitude was the result of constant exposure to chemicals causing some sort of obscure brain injury.
"What do you want?" he asked her crossly.
"My burette is blocked." Lucy held out the offending apparatus in explanation.
He snatched it from her, peering at it suspiciously.
"What have you done to it?" It was clear from his tone he couldn't conceive of any problem not being a student's fault.
"I haven't done anything," Lucy maintained with dignity. "It just blocked. I think there's too much grease in the tap."
He glared at her, plainly still convinced she must be responsible somehow, but made no further comment. Disappearing into the storeroom he returned a moment later with another burette.
"There!" he said, thrusting it into her hands. "Try not to break this one!"
"I'll do my best!" Lucy responded, trying to be polite. He just snorted and not wanting to get into an argument, Lucy thanked him and turned away.
She returned to her lab bench, expecting to find Sumita still working on her experiment, but to her surprise the Indian girl was not alone.
A young man was trying to talk to her. Lucy remembered his first name as John but couldn't recall his surname. As she watched Sumita lost patience with his attempts to engage her in conversation and rounded on him.
"Just what do you want?" she asked.
He looked uncomfortable, running fingers through his dark hair.
"Well," he said hesitantly. "There's an interesting film on at the Odeon this Saturday and I was wondering…"
His voice trailed off and he blushed furiously, looking acutely embarrassed.
"Yes?" Sumita asked looking impatient. "What about it?"
"Well I was wondering if you'd like to go with me," he concluded in a rush.
Sumita stared at him, completely taken aback by this unexpected suggestion. Lucy could see the astonishment on her friend's face, but she recognised another emotion as well; fear.
"I'm busy on Saturday," she said at last.
"Perhaps another time then?" he suggested hopefully.
"I don't think so," Sumita responded coldly. "Now if you'll excuse me I have to get on with my work."
The young man turned away, looking rather crushed.
"That was a bit harsh," Lucy commented.
Sumita looked surprised at her interjection. She had not realised Lucy was there.
"I don't' see why you couldn't have gone," Lucy said, "You're not doing anything on Saturday."
"I don't need a boyfriend," Sumita replied. "Didn't you say that yourself last week?"
"Going out with him once doesn't mean he's your boyfriend," Lucy told her. "Having another friend wouldn't be a bad thing."
"I have you and Mark," Sumita replied. "I don't need any other friends."
She turned back to her work and Lucy could tell by her expression she considered the matter closed. With a sigh she went back to her own bench to get on with her work.
Sumita's attitude to boys was rather odd. Although she had come to like and trust Mark and seemed to be comfortable with Lucy's brothers as well, she could be rather cool and distant with other young men, especially if there was any sign of romantic interest on their part. Yet when she talked and joked with Lucy about boys she was bold and forthright, sometimes even quite brazen. Lucy was starting to realise that bold attitude was actually a mask, a form of defence mechanism covering deeply held fears and insecurities. Given the horror of what had happened to her friend as a child, she supposed that was understandable.
Reminding herself she needed to get her experiment finished today, Lucy returned to her titration. The new burette functioned perfectly and within twenty minutes she had managed to get three closely agreeing titres. She wrote the values down on a piece of paper as her lab book had been handed in to the demonstrators for marking. Lucy promised herself she would write the results into her lab book as soon as possible; she wanted to be organised in her work and not the sort of student who kept things on a hundred different scraps of paper.
Looking towards Sumita, she saw her friend was already writing the experiment up.
"Have you finished already?" Lucy inquired
"Just about," she replied. "I'm doing the calculations now, but the results look promising!"
"Mine do as well, but my last experiment is being marked and I haven't got my lab book back yet."
"Oh I got mine back at the beginning of the afternoon," Sumita told her.
"How did you do?" Lucy asked.
"Pretty well, I got a B minus," Sumita said. "I'm just glad it wasn't that idiot Clovis who marked it!"
Lucy nodded in agreement. "I'm going now to see if mine's been marked yet and I'm hoping Clovis won't be around!"
"Good luck!" Sumita called out as Lucy made her way to the front of the lab. To her dismay it was Steven Clovis who was sitting behind the demonstrator's desk.
"Ah, the lovely Miss Pevensie," he said, grinning at her. "I've just finished marking your work."
Reluctantly, Lucy sat down in the chair beside him.
"I have to say your work is quite impressive," Clovis told her. He didn't say 'for a girl that is' but Lucy could sense that the qualification was intended. He held up a vial of yellow crystals. "Your picrate derivative had been well crystallised and the melting point is correct and accurately recorded."
Setting the vial down he opened her lab book. Lucy was relieved to see that most of what she had written was marked by red ticks, although a few sections had been underlined, with comments added.
"Generally your write up was quite good," Clovis told her. "There are a few issues however. In describing the procedure there are times when you adopt a rather personal style. I know this isn't really emphasised at school, but in scientific writing an impersonal style is preferred. For example, you wrote 'I added two grams of aluminium chloride' when it would be better to write 'two grams of aluminium chloride were added.' Do you see what I mean?" Lucy nodded.
"As for the questions asked in the instruction booklet, you do answer them well but a bit more theoretical detail would help," Clovis told her. "What you said about para isomers being favoured over meta in an activated aromatic ring is true, but you neglected to mention that the ortho product is not formed in this case because the molecule is too crowded. That's quite an important point."
Picking up a red fountain pen, he wrote a large 'B' at the bottom of the page. "Overall it's pretty good work. You do have practical skill, but you need to work on your writing style and think a bit more about the theory behind the experiments." Clovis seemed to hesitate a moment before he continued speaking. "I would be willing to help you with that Lucy, even outside the lab."
"Why would you give me special help?" Lucy asked, rather puzzled. A moment later she felt his hand on her knee, and realised with a sinking feeling exactly what he meant.
"Well, you're a very attractive girl, Lucy," Clovis whispered, leaning closer to her. His hand moved up from her knee to her thigh. "If you were nice to me, I would be nice to you!"
"Take your hand off my leg," she said firmly.
"Now don't be difficult, Lucy," Clovis said. His hand crept further up her leg, caressing her thigh in what he probably imagined was a seductive way, but the only emotion it evoked in Lucy was revulsion. "I'm sure we can come to an arrangement that will benefit us both!"
Lucy reached down and grasped his wrist to prevent him touching her even more intimately. "I said, take your hand off my leg!"
Her eyes met his, her gaze calm and authoritative. His smile slowly faded and his face paled. He looked away suddenly, wrenching his hand from her grasp.
"All right Pevensie, if that's the way you want to play it!" He laughed rather shakily. "You could have made things quite comfortable for yourself it you weren't such a frigid little prude!"
"Let me make something quite clear," Lucy retorted. "Even if I was the sort of girl to take a different man to my bed every night, I still wouldn't have anything to do with you, not even if you were the last man on earth!"
He stared at her in shock, his expression angry and vicious. Suddenly he opened her lab book again and picking up the pen rapidly turned the ticks into crosses, then scribbled out the 'B' and replaced it with an 'F'.
"What are you doing?" Lucy gasped.
"Correcting my previous mistake!" he replied. He looked at her triumphantly. "I was obviously too generous in marking your work!"
Lucy stared at him in horror. He looked back at her smugly, a gloating smile on his face.
"You won't get away with this!" Lucy whispered at last.
"Oh but I think I will," he replied. "Doctor Addler is the lecturer in charge of the demonstrators in this lab and he won't show you any sympathy. He hates female students. It's a shame in a way. You're rather a good student for a girl but you've brought it on yourself. I look forward to marking your future work, Pevensie!"
Standing up, he strode away from the desk and out of the lab, leaving Lucy sitting in her chair, her mind whirling with a confused mixture of shock, anger and dismay. All her warrior instincts were screaming at her to pursue Clovis and thrash him to within an inch of his life, but rationally she knew that would only make matters worse
Lucy slowly made her way back to her bench, trying to work out what to do in this situation.
"Lucy what is it? What's wrong?" Sumita asked. "You look as white as a sheet!"
Lucy shook her head, not knowing where to begin in explaining what had happened.
Just then Mark Lewisham joined the two girls.
"Is something wrong?" he asked, noticing the tension between them.
"Something's bothering Lucy," Sumita told him. "But she won't tell me what."
Hesitantly, Lucy explained what had happened to her two friends. Their reactions were predictable.
"That's outrageous!" Sumita exclaimed angrily.
"I'll kill him!" Mark growled, his face white with fury. He started to stride away, obviously intending to find Clovis, but Lucy grabbed his arm to restrain him.
"No Mark, that won't do any good!"
"Surely you're not going to let him get away with this?" Mark looked at her incredulously. "Lucy you can't. If you give in to this harassment it will never stop!"
"I know, and I don't intend to let it go," Lucy replied calmly. "But you beating him to a pulp won't help me, Mark. You'll just get yourself sent down, and Clovis will have a bigger grudge against me than ever!"
"Complain to the Head of Department," Sumita urged her. "You could even go to the University Provost if you have to!"
Lucy shook her head. "I should go to Addler first. He's in charge of the demonstrators and if I try to go over his head, he'll fight any punishment for Clovis tooth and nail!"
"I'm not sure you'll get any joy out of him," Mark said doubtfully. "Clovis was right about him hating female students. A lot of people call him 'The Snake' you know." Mark shrugged. "It's a rather weak pun on his name, but it does accurately portray his character."
"It's all a matter of how you approach it," Lucy replied. She smiled, surprising her friends with her sudden change of mood.
"I think this is an occasion for a little subtlety!"
