Charles Sheffield - The Amazing Dr. Darwin

Milly glanced around before she answered. “New, and most disturbing.” She reached into the waistband of her skirt, pulled out a folded piece of yellow paper, and handed it across the table to Darwin. “Two days ago, I discovered this within my sewing kit.”

He opened it and read aloud, while Pole leaned across to see the paper. “ ‘Kathleen must on no account marry Brandon Dunwell. If you value your daughter’s health and happiness, make sure the wedding does not take place.’ That is all? No other message, no envelope?”

“Nothing.”

“And Kathleen?”

“Knows nothing of this. She returns in the morning.” Milly drew in a deep breath, and her lips trembled. “I have been so tormented, wondering if she should be told.”

“Not unless some purpose is served by doing so. I deem it premature to burden her with this. In fact, if it is possible to avoid any involvement of Kathleen in my actions, I will do so.” Darwin looked again at the note, and his face became perplexed. “Before this note I had been pursuing a certain line of thinking, which must now perhaps be abandoned. May I keep this?”

“Of course. But Dr. Darwin, what should I do ? The wedding is in five days, the guests are arriving, the plans proceeding. Brandon is arriving later today, to discuss more arrangements with me.”

“What time do you expect him?”

“Soon.” She glanced out of the window. “Before dark. He has an aversion to the night. But before he comes, may we talk? Dr. Darwin, I am desperate, and desperately worried. Jacob assures me that you are the most learned man in the whole of Europe, and the wisest. Tell me what I must do, and I promise that I will follow your advice.”

“Until I have had the opportunity for more thought concerning this new missive, I am not sure that I am equipped to offer advice. But let me hold for the moment to my original idea. Let us consider the phantom. I realize that you were not visited by that phenomenon in your own journeys from St. Austell, but I would like you to think hard, and to recall the circumstances in which the robberies took place. What can you tell me of each, beyond what you described to Jacob in your letter?”

“I will try.” Milly sat for a moment, her rounded forehead broken by frown lines. “January 15th, the first occasion. The coach left St. Austell about five, just as dark came on, and reached Dunwell Hall a little before seven. The evening was clear and cold, and we had been wondering if it would snow, which it did not. But the second and third times were very different. On January 23rd we had an absolute deluge of rain, and the coach arrived in mid-afternoon with all the luggage soaked. The passengers also complained of being slightly wet, but their main concern was with the loss of their valuables. And on January 28th, the last appearance of the phantom, the weather was a cold, ugly fog, and the day hardly seemed to become light from morning to night. The coach again arrived at Dunwell Hall in mid-afternoon. And its occupants had again been robbed.”

“Strange indeed. Do you know, had they enjoyed a meal while on the coach? Or perhaps shortly before leaving St. Austell.”

“I am sure that the last group at least did not. When they arrived here they were in high good humor, except that they pronounced themselves famished to the point where hunger was making them positively queasy.”

“Indeed?” Darwin raised his eyebrows and shook his head. “No food or drink. Then I must think again, and set another notion in train. Is there any other circumstance that you deem worthy of mention?”

“Not really. I was not actually present on those coach journeys, you see, and everything was related to me secundus rather than primus . But all agree, the coach did not stop. Nor did anyone enter it. I am sorry, but that is all I can tell you.”

“Sorry? For what?” Darwin was anything but displeased. “If only my patients described their symptoms with such brevity and clarity, the practice of medicine would be a good deal easier.”

The food was at last arriving, and Darwin halted his questioning while it was being served. Jacob Pole and Milly Meredith chatted, catching up on family matters, while Darwin ate heartily, stared at nothing, and from time to time looked again at the note in front of him.

“Health and happiness,” he muttered at last. “No food or drink. Happiness and health. How strange. Mrs. Meredith, I would very much like to meet Brandon Dunwell, even if only for a few moments. Could you perhaps introduce me, as a friend of yours?”

“Dr. Darwin, Jacob has told me so much of you, I consider you as such a friend.”

“Then you must call me Erasmus, not Dr. Darwin. And you should begin doing so at once. It must appear natural by the time that Brandon Dunwell arrives.”

“Very well. Erasmus.” Milly glanced from him to Jacob Pole and back. Her cheeks turned a brighter pink. “There is one problem. You are not on the list of guests for the wedding. Brandon would accept your presence the more readily if he thought—if we were to somehow suggest—that you were here for other reasons. That you had come, perhaps, because you and I—”

“Say no more. He will learn that I am interested in Millicent Meredith, as any sensible man would be interested.”

“And you must call me Milly.”

“I already think of you that way.” Darwin bowed gallantly, as far as his girth and the table top permitted. “Milly, if it will not disturb your meal, I would like to ask a question or two concerning friend Brandon. He seems to keep curious hours. Do you happen to know why he pursues activities only in the daytime?”

“I have no idea, but it was not always so. Brandon today is sober, quiet, and serious. Years ago, from what I have heard, it was very different. He indulged in gambling, and drinking, and hard living, and was out to all hours.”

“But you are sure that he has abandoned that style of living?”

“Quite sure. I would not normally have mentioned his earlier actions at all, since they are so inconsistent with his behavior today.”

“You were right to do so. I compliment you. It is a rare intelligence, Milly, who answers what a man means , rather than what he asks.” Darwin cocked his head at a sound from outside. “Is that a horse?”

“Brandon, for a certainty. I recognize the harness bells.” Milly stared about her. “Doctor—Erasmus—I hope I do not betray your interests. I am new to deception.”

Darwin reached across and gripped her hand in his. “It is like sin, Milly. Improvement comes rapidly with practice.” He deliberately held on, until the door opened and a newcomer stood at the threshold, a brown basset hound at his side. The dog sniffed at Darwin’s luggage, still standing just inside the entrance, and wagged its tail.

“Sit, Harvey.” The man waited until the dog sank to its belly, then propelled himself into the room with an almost spasmodic surge of energy. His heels clattered on the floor, as though he was deliberately stamping them. Milly Meredith sprang to her feet with a matching urgency.

“Brandon, this is my friend, Erasmus Darwin.” Her blush could have come equally well from embarrassment or knowledge of deception. “He will be staying here for a few days.”

But Brandon Dunwell showed little interest in Darwin. He nodded a greeting, blinking pale, tired eyes, and moved at once to the window. He leaned forward toward Milly, gripping the edge of the table.

“Kathleen has not yet returned?”

“Tomorrow morning.”

“Good. For her sake, I would like to discuss certain financial arrangements for the wedding without her presence.” He paused, and stared pointedly at Darwin and Pole.