“How did I know?” scoffed Rosa, throwing his hands up. “Tell me, what is it that drives a man to leave his home and seek his fortune? Hmm? What is it that makes him want to conquer the world? What is it that finally roots a man in one place, or that can just as easily uproot him in the blink of an eye? What makes him come and go? My friend, for better or worse, it’s always a woman. Trust me. It is just one of the simple facts of life.”

“Yeah, well, I don’t know how simple all of this is,” muttered Quinn.

Rosa stood there for a moment, rubbing his chin thoughtfully, before gesturing to the chair across from his desk. “Sit,” he told him, “and tell me how you came to know this Elena.”

Surprised that his confession had brought him an invitation into the professor’s office instead of immediate ejection from his presence, Carter stepped tentatively inside and sat down in the chair.

“Where do I begin?” he said disconsolately.

“Begin at the beginning,” suggested Rosa. “Tell me about how you first met, or better yet, how it was that you first saw her.”

“That’s easy,” said Carter, looking past Rosa with a faraway gaze. “I can remember it like it was a minute ago. It was during a rugby match over in Newport—the New England collegiate tournament. I was carrying the ball, and when I got tackled I ended up flat on my back, trapped at the bottom of a ruck. There must have been ten guys on top of me, all fighting for the ball, and one of them, probably one of my own teammates, had his knee jammed into my midsection. So besides getting crushed, I could barely breathe. I tried screaming, but nothing came out. It was like being born. I was in agony, and I thought it would never end, but then the ball suddenly came loose and everyone unpiled, leaving me there on the ground while they all ran down the field. I sat up to catch my breath, and I was just about to pick myself up and go running down the field after them when I saw her standing there on the sidelines, looking straight at me, smiling.”

“What did you notice about her?” asked Rosa, studying the young man’s expression.