Possible Clues:

• Academic has rooms outside university
• They're promising to pay for the hard work of breeding, it seems
• Scholarly promissory note accepted by bosses
• Working hard on promises to pay for service
• Working hard to get one's promises to pay for breeding
• Hard-working boss clearly in arrears
• Being given to work, the artist will work there with us
• Hard-working bosses accepting financial commitment
• Boss promises to pay academic
• Academic bosses admit financial liability