Mr. Boden was a bit taller than I was, with red-blond hair, blue eyes, and a square, solid build. He was gentle and quiet, good with the animals, and always polite to me. He was also one of Professor Jeffries’s favorite students, and he made me very nervous.
After all, I’d gotten my job by doing pretty much what he was doing: hanging about the menagerie and offering to help out and pestering Professor Jeffries with questions. Only there wasn’t enough work at the menagerie to hire on another person, so if Professor Jeffries decided he wanted better help, he’d have to replace me. And Mr. Boden was better, by any measure; he was two years older than I was, a lot handier with Avrupan magic, and a lot more knowledgeable about animals, especially wildlife, on account of having finished two years at the Northern Plains Riverbank College already.
One afternoon, late in November, he came over as I was putting away the last of the spell-casting supplies and said, “Excuse me, Miss Rothmer, I was wondering …”
“Yes?” I said with a tiny sigh. I’d been looking forward to being done for the day, but Mr. Boden hardly ever spoke to me unless he needed something. “What can I do for you, Mr. Boden?”
“I, ah, was wondering … if you are finished for the day …” He hesitated. “If I might walk you to your home.”
“Oh!” was all I could think to say for a good long minute. “I — yes, I’m nearly done. That is … I would like that.”
It was a gloomy, raw November day, all gray skies and bare trees. The air had a nip to it that promised more snow soon. We’d had two snowfalls already, early in the month, but neither had been much to speak of and they’d both melted off during the previous week’s warm spell. It didn’t feel like whatever was coming would be melting again until March.
The chill and the wind didn’t make for much conversation. When we came to the front gate, he thanked me gravely for the pleasure of my company and went on his way, leaving me openmouthed in surprise. I went inside and thought very hard for the rest of the evening.
Mr. Boden walked me home again a few nights later. It wasn’t long before he was accompanying me two or three nights every week as a settled thing, and I was pretty sure that it wasn’t Professor Jeffries or the animals that kept him coming back to the menagerie, or at least, not only them.
It took me a time to get accustomed to the notion that Mr. Boden might be in the way of courting me. What convinced me was Allie’s behavior. She was polite enough when he first started dropping in; after all, it was no new thing for us to have students from the college in and out of the house at all hours of the day. By Christmas, though, she was frowning at me and muttering whenever Mr. Boden’s name came up in talk. Even Nan noticed, when she came by with her gifts for the family and stayed for dinner.
The three of us — Nan, Allie, and I — were in the kitchen, finishing up the dishes. Even being a married lady with her own house wasn’t enough to keep Nan from helping with chores when she was home. Nan asked how things were at the menagerie and winked at me, and Allie started right in muttering, and to my surprise, Nan rounded on her.
“You just stop that right now, Allison Rothmer!” Nan said. “Or do you want to end up like Rennie?”
“Like Rennie?” Allie said, looking startled and offended. She tossed her head. “Ha! I’m not stupid enough to run off with a Rationalist! I can do better than that.”
“Maybe, but the way you’re acting, you won’t even find a gentleman to talk to, much less one willing to run off with you!” Nan said. “If it bothers you so much that Eff has a beau and you don’t, go find one for yourself. Fussing at Eff won’t help.”
Allie stared at her for a second, then burst into tears. Nan rolled her eyes and went to comfort her. I hung back. I wasn’t sure Allie would want me reassuring her just then, especially if all her temper was on account of her being jealous of Mr. Boden and me.
Nan seemed to agree with me. She jerked her head toward the door. I nodded and slipped out. Luckily, Mama and Papa had gone into the study to talk, so I could get upstairs without them seeing. A long while later, Allie came up to join me and apologize.
Things were better at home after that, though Allie never did quite explain why she’d acted as she had. I wondered for a while if Allie fancied Mr. Boden for herself. I watched her carefully for a few weeks whenever he was around, and decided she didn’t. It was more that she was three years older than me, and all of our older sisters were married. I think she felt like it should be her turn next, not mine.
When I finally figured that out, I felt more than a bit odd. Roger Boden had been walking me home from the menagerie and stopping in to have tea; it was a long way from that to getting married, I thought. It made me a little nervous around him.
It also made me think a lot. I liked Roger just fine, but I wasn’t sure that I liked him the way Mama liked Papa or Nan liked her husband, Gordon. I certainly didn’t like him enough to run off with, the way Rennie and Brant had, though when I thought about it, I couldn’t see him ever asking me to do something like that. The question was, could I like him that way, and did I want to? He was an awfully nice man, and Papa and Professor Jeffries both spoke highly of his prospects. I could be happy with him, if I worked at it, and it wasn’t like I had a lot of other suitors banging at our door.
But I wasn’t sure I wanted to work at being happy with Roger. I didn’t want to get married just because most of my sisters had. I’d had a taste of what things were like on the far side of the Great Barrier Spell, and that was what I wanted to do and where I wanted to be. I still didn’t know how I could do that, but I was pretty sure that marrying Roger wasn’t the way to get there. And I wasn’t ready to settle for second best.
Maybe if Nan and Allie hadn’t said anything, I wouldn’t have noticed what was going on until much later. Maybe by then I’d have fallen in love with Roger and decided he was first best after all; or maybe I’d have felt that I’d led him on and was obligated to marry him. That wasn’t the way things worked out, though, and now I had to make a conscious decision. It would have been a lot easier if I could have just let things happen.
So I was downright skittish when, late in January, Mr. Boden asked if he could have a private word with me before our walk home. “Miss Rothmer,” he began, “I wanted to tell you … that is, I wanted you to be the first to know that I have had some unexpected good fortune.”
I relaxed considerably when I heard that. “Good fortune?” I said.
“Yes,” he said. “Professor O’Leary was kind enough to recommend me to one of his colleagues at St. Edmund’s, in Albion, for advanced study in applied metaphysics and esoteric geomancy, and not only have I been accepted, he’s found me a sponsor.”
Applied metaphysics and esoteric geomancy sounded plenty advanced to me, but what I said was, “St. Edmund’s? In Oxford? That’s one of the oldest schools of magic in Avrupa!”
Mr. Boden nodded. “It is a very great honor, and an opportunity I couldn’t pass up.”
“Well, of course you couldn’t!” I said indignantly. “Who would expect you to?”
“I am very glad you feel that way.” He hesitated, then went on. “I will be leaving in two weeks, and I’ll be gone for a year. May I write you?”
“Um,” I said. “I — once in a while, maybe, just as a friend.”
I maybe put a little too much emphasis on those last few words, because his face went still. After a minute he nodded slowly. “Yes, that would be best,” he said thoughtfully. “A year is a long time; who knows what may happen?”
“Exactly,” I said. I didn’t mention that I kind of hoped he’d find a nice girl in Albion who’d suit him better than I would.