Chapter 17

Charlbury on the weekends was exactly how Elizabeth would have designed it if she had been in charge of planning her perfect village. The townspeople were out in force, and as Elizabeth strolled into town, she passed many a middle aged woman in army green rubber boots, which they called Wellies, some walking dogs, some taking an armful of flowers home from the florist. Every time Elizabeth walked into town on a Saturday morning, she felt like she had somehow slipped into one of her favorite novels – set around 1940 is in the most stereotypical of English villages. She had a purpose on this Saturday morning – although most weeks she went into town for no other reason than the experience. She had begun packing for her little Scotland jaunt, and had found she needed more deodorant. It was simply not something she wanted to run out of before an important meeting with the board of directors. So she went to the dispensing chemist in Charlbury, even though she knew it was twice as expensive as it would have been at the discount drugstore in Oxford. After taking care of the one ‘to-do’ on her list, she started her customary stroll.

The first place she always stopped was at the Whole Foods Shop for her usual cup of tea and free conversation. The women who ran the shop were always more than willing to catch Elizabeth up on all the town gossip she had missed during the week, and they were also a valuable source of information about what was going on in the village. They informed her that there would be a choral presentation at the parish church that night, and it was expected to be very good. They wondered if perhaps they might she her there with Barrett? As soon as the conversation turned to her personal life, Elizabeth took it as the sign to move on. She thanked the ladies for their fascinating conversation, and she politely skirted the issue of her relationship with Barrett. She wasn’t sure if they thought she was rude or hiding something, or what, but she didn’t care. She wasn’t sure herself of the nature of her and Barrett’s relationship, and she was about to try to explain it to the town busybodies.

Her next stop was Abby’s Apples to see Abby. She had her hands full with customers and orders, so Elizabeth didn’t think it would be right to stop and talk. She couldn’t resist picking up a bouquet of some of the local grown flowers, though – it was the perfect thing for a weekend at home. Of course, it wasn’t just any weekend at home, this was a weekend at home when she was trying desperately not to think about two things: one, that she would have to leave the home she had so grown to love soon and two, that she had her big meeting in a day, and she wasn’t supposed to get her hopes up. It took quite a bit of effort to keep these two things off her mind, so she stopped by the convenience store to rent two movies to distract her and some snacks to go with them, then she wandered back out of town.

It was such a gorgeous day; she decided to take the long way home. The foot path system of the Cotswolds was elaborate, stemming from an ancient law that made pubic rights of way around farmer’s fields. Thanks to the quirkiness of the Brits, this was never changed, and there are still legal rights of way in the same places, which sometimes go right through people’s private lawns, or farmer’s fields. Elizabeth decided to wander down the marked path that should take her from the edge of Charlbury up over the hill and that would bring her out just on the other side of Banbury Hill Farm. With her bouquet in one arm, and her bag of snacks and movies hanging from the other, she set off on the path. Unfortunately, what Elizabeth didn’t fully realize about the public rights of way, is that the people whose houses and fields are traversed by these paths sometimes resent the public’s intrusion, even if it is the law. So they often do not take care of the paths, or even clearly mark where the traveler is supposed to go. This Elizabeth discovered fully when she found herself in the middle of a field, with sheep grazing around her, and no idea of which way to go next. But because it was a bright Saturday morning, Elizabeth chose to see this as an adventure instead of a problem. Now if it had been cold or raining, she would have just gone back and made it home the normal way. But she had nothing to lose. She started to think, though: “I wonder if sheep can hurt you? Shouldn’t they be fenced in or something?” As she was thinking this to herself, she took her first cautious step forward, and the sheep all ran to the far corner of the field, as if she was a wolf. “Well, I guess that answers that question.” So she wandered through the field without worrying about the sheep attacking her, although she did still need to watch her step because there was much evidence that this was a field sheep lived in.

Elizabeth’s little adventure continued to get more interesting, she found herself confronted with all manner of livestock. There was even one field with a bull, but it was a long way away and seemed docile, so Elizabeth took the risk. She met horses, and ducks, and dogs. Her favorite animal friends, though, were the family of pigs sitting contentedly in front of the fence she needed to cross to get to the road. Elizabeth hoped that they would scatter when she approached, as the sheep had done, but she was not so lucky. Instead the mother pig just stood and considered Elizabeth without moving. The baby piglets running around the mother’s legs seemed to have picked up on their mother’s message that this human was not a threat. She had to smile as she watched the pigs watch her. But she had to get around them. As she started to inch towards the fence, she realized the absurdity of the situation – she was more afraid of the pigs than the pigs were of her, and she was the one with a brain, cognizant thought, and a doctoral thesis. “Come on, Elizabeth, gather your courage to the sticking place, or whatever that quote is.” She stepped purposefully towards the pigs, who still didn’t seem willing to move, but who didn’t get upset when she gingerly stepped over and around them to hop the fence. Once she was over, she waved goodbye, and set off on what she believed to be her way, although a sign to mark the foot path would obviously be too much to ask.

A few hours later Elizabeth emerged from the last muddy field to see the main road stretching before her and the Banbury Farm house in the distance. “Okay, that was the really, really long way home.” She thought to herself, with a mental note to try it again someday when she wasn’t wearing her nice trousers or carrying an armful of stuff. Still, it was all part of the experience, but that didn’t make up for the fact she had mud up to her knees. It took her almost an hour, once she finally got back to the cottage, to take care of the results of her decision to take the foot path. She had to put in a load of laundry, clean her shoes, and take a shower. By the time she did all that, she had just enough time to set the kettle on for some tea and instant soup for dinner, and settle down in front of the TV for her favorite silly British pop television show.

Elizabeth’s weekend had flown by. The attempts to distract herself, and prevent thinking had proven entirely effective, and she wasn’t sure what she had done all weekend. But on Monday morning she was ready to go – to start off on her Scottish adventure. She had packed all the dressy business clothes she would need for her meeting, as well as all of her notes that would guide her Scottish leg of Raymond research. Those were the two most important things to pack, so once Elizabeth had made sure they we’re safely inside her suitcase, the rest of the packing had gone quickly.

Mona, Dante’s secretary who had booked the appointment with Elizabeth, had wanted to have Elizabeth fly into Glasgow, to save time. But Elizabeth had insisted on taking the train. She had explained to Mona on the phone: “Train travel is so much more peaceful than flying. If I take the train from Oxford to Glasgow I’ll get almost the entire length of England displayed before me, all I have to do is enjoy. I find train travel so relaxing, it’s like a mental retreat. I can think of nothing I would like more.” Mona had tried to insist, probably because she thought Elizabeth was just choosing train travel to save the company money on travel expenses. But eventually Elizabeth had worn her down, and Mona had agreed to make the travel arrangements by train.

So Elizabeth was looking forward to a full day on the train. She had brought lots of snacks and things to do, although she knew from past experience she would likely spend most of the trip curled up under a blanket, listening to peaceful music and watching the scenery go by outside the window. This was why she was more than a little upset when she got on the train and found there was some mistake in her reservation; she had been placed in an aisle seat, not a window seat. She had explained the problem to the Ticket Agent when he went by, by he politely informed her that it was a busy route, and all other seats were full.

Her mood continued to disintegrate. The train was indeed full and something was wrong with the air conditioning so the car was stifling. Elizabeth was beginning to really wish she had chosen the flying option. She became positively grumpy once she realized she still had the two videos in her purse that she was supposed to return to the convenience store on her way to the train station in Charlbury. “Stupid, Elizabeth! Do you realize how much you’re going to have to pay in late fees!?” She must have had a scowl deeply imprinted on her face, because the woman sitting across from her leaned across the small plastic table to ask if everything was alright. Elizabeth said “Yes” out of habit, but then she stopped to think about it. Everything was alright, in fact, everything was great, she was on her way to Scotland, for heaven’s sake! The minor details of window seats, air conditioning and overdue movies should not be enough to put a damper on her excitement for an all-expenses paid research trip to Scotland, should it!? She gave herself a strict talking to, and decided that her outlook would improve, and quickly. “I think I need a cold drink.” She considered both options, and seeing no clues, she decided it would be just as good of a likelihood the snack bar was in the front of the train as in the back. She asked the nice lady across from her to watch her stuff and set off.

After 5 minutes of swaying back and forth while walking down narrow aisle ways, Elizabeth found the snack bar. As she stood and considered her options, she felt someone grab her arm. Her first instinct was to punch whoever it was - an instinct leftover from a very good self-defense class she had taken a few years back. Fortunately, her brain had time to check her impulse, and instead of heaving a punch, she simply turned around to see who it was. Meg was standing behind her, with a big smile on her face. Her hair was down in a mass of crazy curls, and she looked about half her age because of it. “Meg – it’s so good to see you” Elizabeth proclaimed, leaning over to give her petite friend a hug. Meg returned it, “Yah, it’s been awhile since we’ve talked. Where are you off to?” “Oh, I’m going to Scotland for a few days for an interview and some research, you?” Meg giggled, which added to Elizabeth’s impression that she was talking to a 14 year old, “Pretty much the same thing, only in the Lake District. I’ll be getting off a few stops before you, I guess.” Elizabeth sighed, “Lucky you, then! I can’t wait to get off this train – I hate how hot and smelly it’s gotten. You’d think they could get a train with working air conditioning.” “You’re not sitting back there in that fire pit, are you?” Meg looked worried. “You know, all you have to do is complain about the AC and they’ll move you up to first class, for free. That’s what I did, and it’s an icy ride all the way.” “Really?” Elizabeth’s hope was renewed. “I’ll have to give that a try.” “Oh please do” Meg grabbed Elizabeth’s hand, “I’m getting ever so bored being surrounded by men in suits; I’d love to have you to talk to.” So Elizabeth went about the process of complaining, and just as Meg had predicted, they were very apologetic and helped move her and her stuff up to first class. This left Meg and Elizabeth with multiple hours to talk.

When Elizabeth waved goodbye to Meg, standing on the platform in the Lake District, she wondered what exactly they had talked about for the last 5 or so hours. Talking with Meg had made the time just fly by, and Elizabeth was so glad they had met up, partially because it was because of Meg she had gotten moved up to first class. The two women had talked about everything under the sun except their respective research. Elizabeth didn’t realize how much she missed talking about something other than her work. As much as she loved what she was doing, and loved the academic conversations she had with her tutor, fellow students, and friends; she missed someone who was just her friend, and not her friend because of her mind or her work. She determined to make more of an effort in her friendship with Meg, even if she was only going to be able to see her for the next month before Elizabeth would have to move home.

There were only a few hours left to stare out the window before the train pulled into the grand main station in Glasgow. She got off the train and moved to the Godiva shop, which Mona had picked out as the easiest and clearest meeting spot. It was the perfect choice; Elizabeth saw it was soon as she left the platform. And once she got closer, it was easy to spot Mona; she was the only woman inside the store. Elizabeth put on her professional air, and went in to introduce herself. Soon, Elizabeth realized she didn’t need to bother with any phony professionalism; Mona was very down-to-earth and relaxed. The two women fell into conversation easily, and Mona took her to the local American chain restaurant for a nice dinner. Elizabeth was amazed how quickly she felt comfortable with Mona, and by the end of the meal, she would even call her a friend. Afterwards, Mona took her to show her where the Foundation was, and then showed her hotel, with instructions of where Elizabeth would need to be and when the following morning. They said goodnight, and Elizabeth disciplined herself to go straight to bed. Although a large part of her just wanted to be irresponsible and go out and explore the city, she knew tomorrow was a big day, and Glasgow would still be there in the morning for her to enjoy.

Tuesday morning, Elizabeth awoke much earlier than her alarm. She hated that her body always woke her up way too early on important days. “Can’t you remember that it is more important to get lots of sleep before a big day, then to have lots of time to get dressed in the morning? Come on body, work with me!” Still, it was too late, Elizabeth couldn’t get back to sleep, so she took the early morning wake up call as a chance to take extra time getting ready so she felt ultra-professional. Then she ordered a leisurely breakfast (Mona had insisted that she order room service for any meals she wished to eat in the hotel, to be covered by the foundation). When it was time to leave, Elizabeth felt like she had been ready for hours.

The offices of the Scottish National Research Foundation were unassuming from the outside, but very impressive from the inside. Elizabeth walked inside and couldn’t help but follow her eyes up the magnificent staircase that curved away to both sides in front of her. Above her hung one of those oversized chandeliers that always made Elizabeth worry they would fall like in the musical. She saw Mona walking towards her at a brisk pace. “Elizabeth, I trust you had a good night’s sleep?” Elizabeth nodded the affirmative, and followed Mona after she gestured towards the hallway to the right. They went down a series of passages, past many offices. Eventually, they got to a small waiting room, where Mona deposited Elizabeth, promising to be right back. She did return, and ushered Elizabeth into Dante – Mr. Macgregor’s – office, then retreated, quietly closing the door behind her.

Dante came out from behind the desk to give Elizabeth a warm handshake. “Hello, dear, how was your journey to this lovely land of Scotland?” Elizabeth smiled at the way he said Scotland, like it was the most precious thing in the world. “Oh, I had quite a nice trip – I met a friend by coincidence and we had a lovely time catching up.” Elizabeth was going to continue on to tell all about the air conditioning and seating, but caught herself just in time. “No one really cares about the details when they ask how your trip was; they are usually just making conversation.” Dante was content with Elizabeth’s short answer, and moved on to other topics. “I suppose you’ve been wondering what this meeting is about. I’m sorry I’ve had to keep you in suspense for so long, that was not my intent. I have been gone on a sort of diplomatic mission to visit some of the main research universities in the US and was, obviously, not able to meet with you until I was back in the country. But now that I have returned, I am ready to explain to you what I was looking for when I gave you that little interview without you knowing it a few weeks back.”

Elizabeth nodded, encouraging him to get to the point. She had indeed been waiting for weeks, and she didn’t need him to remind her of her waiting, she wanted to know the answer of what it all meant. Much to Elizabeth’s joy, he was quick to get to the point. “Elizabeth, the reason I’ve asked you here for this meeting, is because I think it would be a shame if our organization missed out on such a bright, young talent. From the first day I met you in the Bodleian library, I felt that you had a passion for learning and research seldom seen among academics, especially those at the level you have risen to. When I learned that your field fell within this Foundation’s boundaries, I was even more convinced that there must be something we could do to support your research. I brought it before the board, who gave me permission to do that ‘fact-finding’ interview that happened a few weeks back. I reported to them the extent of your research, the speed with which you were working, and your adjustment to British life. They were happy with all your answers, and agreed that you should come for a formal interview. You see, we are considering you for one of our two Doctoral Fellowships. These are very competitive positions, and we usually do not recruit people, only take applications. You, however, are a special case, and we made some allowances. I do really hope that this will be a good fit of you, this opportunity, and this foundation, and that it will be a fortunate partnership for all parties involved.”

Elizabeth felt happiness welling up inside her; this was exactly what she hadn’t allowed herself to hope for. The grin spread across her face, and she tried as hard as she could to keep from laughing outright. Dante was continuing his spiel: “So the next step is filling out the application papers, as a formality. Then tomorrow, you’ll have a basic interview with the board of directors. They know how excited I am about you as a candidate, so I don’t think you’ll meet any resistance on their end. Then, if you are willing to accept the position, we should be able to offer you the Fellowship starting as soon as all the paper work goes through.

Elizabeth’s meeting with the board went smoothly, as Dante had suggested. She was told to go out for lunch with Mona and then come back for a final meeting with Dante. As Elizabeth and Mona wandered down the pedestrian boulevard of Charles Street, Elizabeth had a very hard time focusing on where she was going. It was a good thing she had gone out with Mona, or else there would have been a very real possibility that she would have not been able to find her way back to the Foundation. But Mona was very patient with the slightly dumbstruck Elizabeth, and even ordered for her at the small Italian café where they had lunch. Elizabeth couldn’t eat much of the pannini she ordered, though, all she wanted to do was get back to the office for the final word.

Once again, Elizabeth found herself sitting in the office of Mr. Macgregor, with her heart in her throat. Dante seemed to notice her nervousness, and quickly gave her the answer she was hoping for. “Well, Elizabeth, I hope you have no plans back in Canada, because on behalf of the board of directors at the Scottish National Research Foundation, I would like to offer you the position of Doctoral Fellow. This will require you continuing your residence in the UK, and your research at the university, or universities of your choosing. The fellowship will continue through to the awarding of your doctorate, with the option of extension for further research if needed. All your tution will be paid, and you will receive a generous stipend that will cover all your living expenses. As a fellow, you will be required to submit a summary of your work bi-annually, as well as contribute a paper in the annual conference. Other than that, your only responsibility is to your work. How does that sound, Elizabeth?” She knew by the grin on Dante’s face that he was well aware of what her answer would be. She also remembered that she had told him awhile ago that she would need a miracle to be able to stay in England to finish her doctorate. “Thank you Dante, I will be glad to accept a fellowship with this Foundation. This is exactly the miracle I’ve been waiting for.” Dante smiled. “Well, there’s just one thing left to do – you’ll have to get new stationary that says: Elizabeth G. Hanover, Doctoral Student, Oxford University; Fellow – National Scottish Research Foundation.” “That does have a certain ring to it” Elizabeth said, and then she let out all the laughter that she had been trying to keep in since she first heard she got the fellowship.