"Please, Arthur!" said the man. "It is important for me to hear these things. Please, if you will, let us continue?"
But Reuben had come to an impasse. He wanted to leave the room, to confront this person alone somewhere no matter what the danger. Why must they go through this little drama in front of Simon and Hammermill?
"Why did you want this meeting?" he demanded suddenly. He was trembling as badly as ever. His palms were wet.
The man didn,t respond.
Oh, if only Laura were in this room. She,d know what to say, Reuben thought.
"Are you a man of honor?" Reuben asked.
The lawyers were beside themselves in a frenzy of mumbling that made Reuben think of kettledrums. That,s just what it sounded like, kettledrums at the symphony, rumbling under the music.
"Yes," said the man. He appeared utterly genuine, sincere. "If I were not a man of honor," the man suggested, "I would not be here."
"Then will you give me your word of honor you,re not offended by my dealings with your friend? That you mean me no harm on account of what happened to him, that you,ll leave me and my lady friend alone!"
"For the love of heaven!" declared Arthur Hammermill. "Are you accusing my client - ?"
"I give it," the man said. "You undoubtedly did what you had to do." He reached across the table. But he couldn,t reach Reuben,s hand. "I give it," he said again, his hand still open, helplessly.
"Yes," said Reuben, struggling to find the words, "I did what I had to do. I did what I felt driven to do. I did this - with Marrok and in other pressing matters as well."
"Yes," said the man softly. "Truly, I understand."
Reuben drew himself up in the chair. "You want Felix,s possessions?" he asked. "You can have them, of course. I only moved to purchase them because I thought it was what Marchent wanted me to do, to take care of them, to see that they were protected, preserved, donated to a library, to the academy, I don,t know. Come and get them. Take them. They,re yours."
Both lawyers began speaking at once, Simon vigorously protesting that it was too early to reach such an agreement, that sums of money had changed hands having to do with these possessions, that some sort of new inventory was required, something a lot more detailed than had been done; Arthur Hammermill was averring in low, quasi-hostile tones that no one had ever told him that the artifacts were of museum quality, and that they would have to discuss this in detail.
"You may have the possessions," said Reuben, politely ignoring both men.
"Thank you," the man said. "I appreciate this more deeply than I can say."
Simon started shuffling his papers and making notes, and Arthur Hammermill was texting something on his BlackBerry.
"Would you allow me to visit you?" the man asked Reuben.
"Of course," said Reuben. "You could have come anytime. You know where we are. You,ve obviously always known. I want you to visit. I want you to come! I would love - ." He was almost stammering.
The man smiled and nodded.
"I wish I could visit with you now. Unfortunately, I have to go. I haven,t much time. I,m expected back in Paris. I,ll call you very soon, just as soon as I can."
Reuben felt the tears threatening, tears of relief.
Suddenly the man rose to his feet, and so did Reuben.
They met at the end of the table, and the man clasped Reuben,s hand.
"The young reinvent the universe," he said. "And they give the new universe to us as their gift."
"But sometimes the young make terrible mistakes. The young need the wisdom of the old."
The man smiled. "They do and they don,t," he said. Then he spoke the words that Reuben had quoted from Teilhard only moments ago. " ,Evil is inevitable in the course of a creation which develops within time., "
He left with Arthur Hammermill rushing to overtake him.
Simon was in a paroxysm. He attempted to coax Reuben back down into a chair.
"You know your mother wants you to see this doctor and frankly I think that she,s got a point." He was winding up for a huge lecture and a full interrogation. This had not gone well, they had to talk about this, no, this had not gone well at all. "And you should call your mother right away."
But Reuben knew it had been a victory.
And he knew as well that there was nothing he could do to clarify things for Simon, or to mollify him, or to reassure him. So he went directly to find Laura, and to leave.
When he came on Laura in the waiting room, the man was with her, holding her right hand in both of his, talking to her in a soft intimate voice.
"... you will never be in danger from such an intrusion again."
Laura murmured her thanks for his assurances. She was slightly dazed.
Flashing a smile at Reuben, and making a small bow, the man withdrew immediately and disappeared down a corridor of dark paneled doors.
As soon as they were alone in the elevator, Reuben asked, "What did he say to you?"
"That it had been an extraordinary pleasure to meet you," Laura said, "and that he,d been shamed by the actions of his friend, that we,d never be visited by someone like that again, that - ." She broke off. She was a little shaken. "It is Felix, isn,t it? This man is actually truly Felix Nideck himself."
"Without doubt," said Reuben. "Laura, I think I won the battle, if there was a battle. I think we,re in the clear."
On the way to the restaurant for dinner, he recounted the entire conversation as best he could.
"He had to be telling you the truth," Laura said. "He would never have sought me out, spoken to me, if he weren,t sincere." A shudder passed through her. "And perhaps he knows all the answers, the answers to everything, and he,ll be willing to tell you all he knows."
"Let,s hope," said Reuben. But he could hardly contain his happiness and his relief.
They hit the North Beach cafe well before the dinner rush, and easily scored a table by the glass doors. The rain had slacked off and a blue sky had broken through, which was wonderfully in keeping with Reuben,s mood. People were sitting at the outdoor tables in spite of the cold. Columbus Avenue was busy as always. The city seemed bright and fresh, not the grim nightscape he had fled.
He was elated; he couldn,t hide it. It was like the break in the rain, the sudden expanding of the blue sky.
When he thought again of Felix standing there, holding Laura,s hand and talking to her, he could have cried. He was quietly proud of how attractive she had been in that moment, in her gray wool pants and sweater, sleek and groomed and shining. She,d worn her white hair tied at the nape of her neck with a ribbon as was her custom, and she,d given a beaming smile to Felix as he,d withdrawn.