Oxford Blood by Georgiana Derwent Page B

voice devoid of all emotion.
    Caroline looked aghast.
    “Right, that is it,” Josh said, scowling. “I’m not having
him treat you like shit. I don’t understand it. He’s perfectly nice to
everybody else. I’m going to go and tell him exactly what I think of him and
all his nonsense.”
    “Josh don’t,” Harriet said half-heartedly. In truth she
quite liked the idea of someone screaming at Tom on her behalf. Josh was on his
feet looking furious, his features twisted into something scary.
    “For goodness sake sit down,” Caroline said in her best
stern lady of the manor tones.
    Josh reluctantly complied. In all the distraction, Harriet
had managed not to look back at Tom’s table and was forcing herself to sit with
her back to it. Caroline however was staring straight at it and despite her
attempts at normal conversation, Harriet could see her expression growing
gradually more strained.
    “What is it?” she whispered when she could stand it no
longer. “What’s he doing?”
    “Katie by the looks of it,” said Caroline angrily. “I can’t
believe this.”
    Turning her head slightly, Harriet saw that this was true.
He was sitting, holding the glamorous fresher, who was wearing a tight green
cashmere dress and looking absurdly pleased with herself. They were snuggling
into each other more by the second.
    “He’s doing this on purpose,” Caroline said. “She’s been
pursuing him all term and he’s shown zero interest. He’s just trying to prove
some idiotic point to you.”
    “Well it’s certainly working,” Harriet whimpered. As she
spoke, Tom and Katie moved in for a kiss. She could hear the cheers and laughs
coming from Katie’s friends and decided she could take no more. Without further
explanation, she stood up to leave. For a second, Tom broke off the kiss and
glanced in her direction, and then she was out of the door and he was back in
Katie’s embrace.
    Trying to act as calmly as possible, Harriet walked into the
main quad. The cool night air calmed her a little, but she still felt
mortified. She just couldn’t understand Tom’s intentions, his wild mood swings.
Just tonight, he’d worked so hard to make her warm to him, make her almost
listen to his bizarre theories, before publicly humiliating her. She wished
she’d managed to slap him before leaving the bar.
    She walked round and round the college grounds, hoping that
the beauty of the buildings would help to soothe her, but it was no good. She
soon decided to give up and go to her room. Even though she still felt weak and
tired from the events of the night before she doubted she’d be able to get to
sleep, but thought it best to give it a try.
    Walking into her staircase, she found several elaborate
bouquets of flowers. An envelope, fastened with sealing wax stamped with a
crest, had been pinned to her door. She opened it to find a handwritten letter.
     
    Please accept my apologies for last
night. I miscalculated the situation and I didn’t realise who you were. I am
terribly sorry if I caused you pain, I absolutely didn’t mean to. Don’t worry;
I can’t come in your room yet. However I got someone to let me in the staircase
and have left the flowers as a further apology. I’d love to see you again.
You’ll be perfectly safe – even if I wanted to do anything, I wouldn’t risk it
considering what I now know. I’d like you to accompany me to the Cavaliers’
Winter Dinner on Friday night.
    Call me.
    Yours, George
     
    A mobile number was incongruously scribbled at the bottom.
Harriet read the letter several times, her heart pounding. She knew that the
sensible thing would be to throw it away and do her best to never think of
George again, but she wanted to know why he’d acted in the way he had, and
whether it had all been a joke that had gone too far. It was becoming clear
that she wasn’t going to get any sensible answers from Tom. Turning up at the
Cavaliers’ party would show him she wasn’t going to be frightened