“Abelard even depicts himself as some sort of romantic hero because of his suffering, but I don’t see him that way at all. Yes, it’s terrible that he was castrated. But while Heloise keeps their flame alive, Abelard eventually renounces all his sexual feelings for her. He voluntarily chooses piety over love, while she never surrenders her passion for him.”

“Excellent point,” he told her, and he meant it. Clearly Taryn had thought about what she’d read, and she dug deeper than the other students, many of whom did only the bare minimum to complete their assignments. Her insights and intellectual enthusiasm made teaching a pleasure. In fact, students like her were why he taught. He wished he had more like her. “You’re right, she does hold on to her passion, while he chooses to walk in the footsteps of saints and renounce the pleasures of the flesh.”

“That makes him sound so noble,” she continued, “but think of what Heloise gave up. Her freedom, her youth. Her own child. Imagine the despair she felt when she writes, ‘I was just your whore.’ It’s as if she realizes he’s discarded her and left her to rot in a convent.”

“Oh, come on!” Jessica snorted. “She gets stuck in the convent because of social and religious pressures. He didn’t make her go there.”

Caitlin, her roommate seated next to her, nodded mechanically in agreement. Jack didn’t understand why, but the pair always seemed hostile to Taryn, exchanging glances and rolling their eyes whenever she made some insightful remark. Jealousy, perhaps.

“Not true,” Taryn responded. She turned to the relevant page in her book. “Heloise writes, ‘It was your command only which sent me into these cloisters.’ She did it for him. She did everything for him. It’s obvious to anyone who actually read the material.”

Jessica reddened. “I read the letters!”

“I never said you didn’t.”

“You implied it.”

“Look, the letters are densely written. Maybe you just missed their point.”

Jessica turned toward Caitlin and whispered, “What a bitch.”

“Jessica?” Jack said. “Did I hear you right?”

She looked him straight in the eye and said with an innocent smile: “I didn’t say anything.” But clearly the others had heard her as well, because they all looked uncomfortable.

“There’s no place in this classroom for personal attacks. Is that clear?” he said.

Jessica responded by silently staring straight ahead.

“Jessica?”

“Whatever.”

It was time to move past this little tiff. He turned to Taryn. “You said Abelard betrayed Heloise. Care to expand on that?”

“She’s given up everything for him. She needs his comfort, his reassurance that he loves her. And what does he do? He tells her to embrace the cross. I think he reveals himself as a heartless jerk, claiming to have suffered more than she did.”

Jason said: “Well, he did have his balls cut off.”

The laughter was a welcome respite from the tension, but he noticed Jessica didn’t join in. She and Caitlin had their heads tilted together, whispering.

He needed to hear new voices, so he looked at Cody Atwood, who as usual was sitting beside Taryn. He was a shy kid who perennially seemed to hide under his baseball cap, sometimes pulled so low that no one could see his eyes. “What do you think, Cody?” Jack asked.

“I, um . . . I think Taryn’s right.”

“He always does,” Jessica said. She turned to Caitlin and whispered, “Loser.”

Jack chose to let it pass, because no one else seemed to have heard the insult.

“I just agree with Taryn that Abelard’s kind of a jerk,” said Cody. “He’s her teacher, and he’s twice as old as she is. That makes him even more of a jerk, taking advantage of his student.”

“And that’s the same dynamic we see echoed in later literary works. Think of Philip Roth’s The Human Stain and Jonathan Franzen’s The Corrections. And I’m sure many of you have read Gone Girl. These stories all explore how an older teacher might fall in love with a student.”

“Just like in Hot for My Prof, ” Jason said.

“What?”

“Oh, it’s just this cheesy YA romance.”

Jack smiled. “Funny how I missed that one.”

“So is that the real theme of this class, Professor?” Jessica said. “Teachers getting it on with hot students?”

He stared at her for a moment, sensing they’d wandered into dangerous territory. “I’m just pointing out that this is a theme that recurs in literature. These stories illustrate how and why a situation that’s forbidden by society can happen. They show us that anyone, even the morally righteous, can be drawn into a disastrous sexual affair.”

Jessica smiled, eyes glittering. “Anyone, Professor?”

“We’re talking about fiction, Jessica.”

“Really, what’s the big deal if a teacher falls in love with a willing student?” said Jason. “It’s not like there’s a law against it in the Ten Commandments. Thou shalt not get it on with hot coeds.”

“But there is a commandment against adultery,” Beth pointed out.

“Abelard wasn’t married,” said Taryn. “Anyway, why are we hung up on this point? We’re getting off the subject.”

“I agree,” Jack said and glanced at the clock. He was relieved to see the hour was nearly over. “Okay, I’ve got a little announcement, and I think you’ll like this. In two weeks, the Museum of Fine Arts opens a special exhibit of illustrations inspired by Heloise and Abelard. They’ve agreed to give our class a personal tour. Instead of meeting here, we’ll have a field trip at the MFA. Be sure to mark your calendars, and I’ll also send out an email to remind you. But next week, we meet here as usual. And be ready to discuss The Aeneid !”

While students filed out of the room, he gathered his notes and slid them into his briefcase. He didn’t notice that Taryn was standing right beside him until she spoke.

“I can’t wait for the field trip, Professor Dorian,” she said. “I’ve seen some of the images on the museum’s website, and it looks like a beautiful exhibition. Thanks for arranging it.”

“Of course. By the way, you did a great job on your Medea paper last week. It’s the best paper I’ve read all semester. In fact, it has the level of sophistication I’d expect of graduate students.”

Her face lit up. “Really? You mean that?”

“Yes. It’s quite thoughtful and very well crafted.”

By reflex she gripped his arm like he was a close friend. “Thank you. You’re the best.”

He nodded and gave his arm a twitch, and she pulled her hand free.

He suddenly noticed Jessica watching from the doorway, and he did not like the look in her eyes. Nor did he like the obviously sexual gesture she gave to Caitlin as Taryn walked out, one finger thrusting in and out of her fist. Caitlin giggled, and they both left the room.

Jessica’s paper had been worse than mediocre, and he’d found it immensely satisfying to scrawl a C-minus on it.

He closed the briefcase with a loud thud, more disturbed by Jessica’s obscene gesture than he cared to admit. Only when the classroom had completely emptied did he finally pull on his coat, and he walked out alone into the cold January wind.

CHAPTER 4

JACK

As usual, Maggie was late. She showed up at the restaurant a little after six thirty, looking harried and windblown, but with a big smile on her face as she hustled to their table and gave her father a big hug, then air-kissed Jack.

“So how’s God’s gift to medicine?” her father, Charlie, said.

Maggie pulled off her jacket, hung it over her chair, and sank into the seat like a deflating weather balloon. “Exhausted. I don’t think I sat down once all afternoon. It’s this cruddy virus going around. Everyone wants me to prescribe antibiotics, and I have to talk them out of it.” She flagged down the waitress for a chardonnay, then took Charlie’s hand. “And how’s my favorite birthday boy?”

“Feeling a lot more celebratory now that you’re here.”

“We’ve been waiting for forty minutes,” Jack said, trying not to sound sour. He had picked up Charlie on the way to the restaurant and had been watching the clock while they’d sat here making small talk. He was already on his second glass of wine.

“Jack, she’s got the best excuse in the world,” Charlie said. “All those sick people who need her.”

“Thank you, Dad.” Maggie flashed her husband a so-there look.

“And you’re lucky to have her, boyo,” Charlie added. “You ever get sick, you have your own personal doctor in the house.”

“Yeah, I am lucky,” Jack conceded and took a sip of pinot noir to quell his annoyance. “At least tonight, we’ll actually get to eat dinner together.”

“Speaking of dinner,” Charlie said, rubbing his hands together, “let’s get on with the pig-out. I’ve been looking forward to this meal all year. If there is a God, he doesn’t have a cholesterol problem.”