Expecting that to be the end of the matter she pushes away her tiramisu and finishes the double espresso the Dean ordered with her dessert, but to her surprise, the Dean is not done with the subject. ‘Take it from me, girls like Natasha can be very destabilising. Besides, I’m not sure how much longer she’ll be at Avon.’ He taps the bulb of his nose with a slender finger. ‘But I didn’t tell you that. So let’s focus on you getting that first and set aside everything else for the moment.’

Nevis is at once curious and flattered. To be trusted with the Dean’s secret! To have prior knowledge of something that perhaps only Natasha and the Dean know. Not that it’s any great surprise. Hadn’t Jessica said that she, Natasha and Satnam had all been thinking about leaving back in February? Wasn’t that what the row at the Valentine’s Day party had been all about?

The Dean catches the waiter’s eye and flicks his chin for the bill. They wait in silence while he deposits a small fan of banknotes on the table. ‘Shall we go?’ he says, and without waiting for an answer, rises from the booth. She gets up and walks back under the arch made by his arm at the doorway and into the daylight. It is warm and the lunchtime shoppers are out.

‘Well, I’ll leave you here,’ says the Dean, at the entrance to the campus. ‘Remember what I said. Put all of the events of the last few days out of your mind. Don’t think about it and certainly don’t waste your time gossiping about it. You are so special, Nevis, you have such a great future ahead of you. It would be a shame to put any of that in jeopardy, don’t you think?’ He turns to go and thinking better of it, spins about on his heels to face her, raising a finger in the air as if testing the direction of the wind. ‘I almost forgot. Satnam’s phone. I’ll be in meetings, but you can leave it with my secretary. No hurry. Next day or two will be fine.’

Chapter 32

Cullen