In keeping with the cloistered academic calm of a university, the first year’s study had weeded out the more immature and incompetent with a ruthlessness that many a dictator would have envied, and John felt a greater personal confidence and stability when he returned after the summer vacation.
His brief sojourn with Brian Gerard’s company had taught him a great deal and he was becoming increasingly intrigued by his father’s business. But these distractions he put to one side, to germinate in the quieter reaches of his mind while he took his father’s advice and made the most of the university.
He enjoyed the student life without being lured into its more inane excesses. He loved to argue and debate, no matter what the outcome. To see his own ideas either sharpened or destroyed was a cons
