Secret of the Wolf (20 page)

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Just after luncheon, she conducted a moderately successful meeting with Lewis. If he

was not improving as rapidly as he had in the past, at least he was not losing ground.

Irene, as usual, was utterly uncooperative and couldn't be drawn into more than the

lightest of trances. She was still far from the breakthrough Johanna hoped for
.

Quentin appeared at Johanna's office precisely at three o'clock, nonchalant and

seemingly at ease about the coming session. Johanna waved him in and closed the

door
.

"Harper has made quite an improvement, I take it?" he asked
.

"Indeed. I have never seen him so lucid, not since he came to us." She gathered the

hypnotic paraphernalia and drew up her chair. "Now I will be able to begin working to

heal the source of his madness.”

Quentin moved toward her. She stood very still and waited, half afraid that he might

touch her. He stopped well short of the chair and developed a sudden interest in the

view out the window
.

"He appears to enjoy your company," she said. "He would benefit from a friend of his

own age and gender.”

He looked at her. "His recovery means a great deal to you, doesn't it?”

"I have been unable to help him. Now—”

"Now there's a chance." His cinnamon eyes were darker than she remembered, filled

with emotions she couldn't interpret. "I hope he knows how lucky he is.”

"Science, discipline, and care will heal him, not luck.”

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"And you," he said softly. "The most essential factor.”

She dropped her gaze. "What did you speak of, the two of you?”

"Not much. He briefly mentioned the War. I didn't press him.”

"Did he show any signs of distress, or violence?”

"He displayed little feeling at all.”

And neither, at this moment, did Quentin. "But he said something that troubled you," she

guessed
.

"No. No. He reminds me

of men I once knew.”

And of himself. The hidden self she had yet to discover
.

"If you're ready, Quentin," she said, "we will go ahead with the hypnosis.”

He took up her suggestion with alacrity and settled on the chaise. She repeated the

induction methods of the previous meeting, and Quentin fell into a trance with even less

resistance than before
.

Nothing else went as hoped. She was unable to coax from him a single new fact or

memory about his time in the army, his drinking, his lycanthropy, or his childhood. Either

he was not in as deep a trance as she surmised, or he had, since the last meeting,

developed much stronger barriers. He might not even be aware he had done so
.

At least he didn't resume his amorous advances. He remained detached and as far

away as the moon
.

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She brought him out two hours later. He asked no questions; in fact, he seemed eager

to be on his way. Johanna banished her doubts at the disappointing results of the

session. She knew her own skill and worth as a doctor. Patience was the remedy for

such setbacks—patience, and a firm grasp of a scientist's objectivity. Progress was

merely delayed
.

What she required was a greater distance from Quentin. He would benefit from the

same. The most efficient way to achieve that goal was in the company of others. He

should socialize with all the patients, become one of the group
.

"I would like you to join us on our walk tonight," she said at the door. "We shall gather in

the parlor in a few minutes.”

His smile held the same outward amiability as always. "Of course, Doctor. I'll be there.”

Just after five o'clock she assembled the patients—all but Harper—together in the parlor

for their thrice-weekly evening stroll. Papa was strapped into his special wheelchair,

showing some interest in the proceedings, and Oscar was openly eager for the

excursion. Lewis wore the black overcoat and gloves he always donned no matter what

the weather. Irene was defiantly dressed in a gown and shoes entirely inappropriate for

the outing, her way of protesting the exercise, and possibly of showing off to Quentin.

May waited outside the door, prepared to trail behind them—at a safe distance, as

always
.

"Please return to your room and put on more suitable shoes," Johanna told Irene. "You'll

hurt your feet, and that is of no benefit to your health—or beauty.”

It was an argument that generally worked with the former actress. She flounced back to

her room and reappeared wearing low-heeled, button-top shoes that looked ridiculous

with the gown
.

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They set out on the wagon path that led away from the house, south toward the road.

Johanna took the lead, pushing her father's chair, followed by Oscar, Quentin, Lewis,

Irene, and May
.

The day's heat was dissipating at last. Birds darted from one tree to the next, absorbed

in their evening songs, and the angled sunlight splashed the fields and trees and

scattered farm buildings with liquid gold
.

Quentin caught up with her after a quarter of a mile. Johanna took a firmer grip on her

father's chair and fixed a neutral smile on her face
.

"It's beautiful in this valley," he said, slowing his stride to match her pace. "I don't think I

was able to appreciate it when I first arrived.”

This was the perfect opportunity to set the tone of their future relationship. "It is lovely.

The region where my father grew up, near Mainz, was not dissimilar.”

"The Rheinhessen?”

"Yes. You have been there?”

"Once. I did some traveling in Europe now and then. I've even read a bit of German

literature: " 'Was vernünftig ist, das ist wirklich; und was virklich ist, das is vernünftig.'“

Her father looked up at Quentin and laughed. "That will never do, my boy," he said.

"'Was vernünftig ist, das ist wirklich; und was virklich ist, das ist vernünftig.'“

Startled by his participation, Johanna saw that his eyes were clear and focused, his

expression animated. Quentin executed a sideways bow
.

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"I stand corrected, Herr Doktor. Do you agree with Hegel's sentiments? 'What is

reasonable is real; that which is real is reasonable.'“

"I would not dare argue with the great philosopher," Papa said, shaking his head. "I am

but a simple physician.”

"That I very much doubt. Hegel also said: 'It is easier to discover a deficiency in

individuals, in states, and in Providence, than to see their real import and value.'“

Johanna felt a burst of happiness. The conversation was entirely rational, and Quentin

talked to her father as if he were an equal, not an enfeebled old man
.

"Ha!" Papa slapped his right hand down on the arm of his wheelchair. "Why did you

never introduce me to this young man before, Johanna? He shows great promise." He

squinted up at Quentin. "Are you the new doctor? Forgive me, my memory sometimes

fails me. I believe you will do very well here. Ja, sehr gut..." He lapsed into silence,

withdrawing into his own thoughts
.

"You were expecting another doctor?" Quentin said to Johanna under his breath
.

"We had been discussing finding a third doctor to join us at the Schell Asylum in

Pennsylvania, in order to expand our practice." She touched her father's head lightly,

smoothing his thin gray hair. "It was Papa's dream. He fell ill before we could complete

it.”

"I'm sorry. We have so little control over our destinies.”

He spoke of himself as well as Papa, but she would not permit self-pity. "I do not believe

that. There is much we can do to influence what some regard as fate.”

"Yes. You'd do battle with the gods themselves, wouldn't you?”

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She heard no mockery in his voice, only genuine admiration. It was in his face as well,

in his eyes. She brought Papa's wheelchair to a stop and turned away from Quentin to

check on the others
.

Oscar galloped past on an invisible pony, hooting and kicking up dust. Lewis's coattails

flapped like the wings of a great crow. Irene walked as if she were on the stage, each

sway of her hips exaggerated. May stopped as soon as Johanna did, maintaining the

same precise distance behind, but her gaze sought Quentin with visible longing
.

"We will take a short rest," Johanna announced, "and then return to the house." She

wheeled her father onto the tawny grass at the edge of the path. They were not far from

the place where she'd first discovered Quentin. She wondered if he remembered
.

He sat down on the ground beside the wheelchair, plucking a dry stalk and placing it

between his teeth. "Our session today wasn't very successful, was it?”

She loosened the strap that held her father safely in the chair. "Progress is not always

steady. It is necessary to be patient. At least you've shown no craving for drink.”

"I haven't had the opportunity. I suppose I could go into town—”

"Not while you are in my care.”

"Warning noted." He patted the ground beside him. "Sit. Even doctors are allowed to

rest from time to time, you know.”

To decline his invitation would imply that she found his nearness disquieting. She

tucked up her skirts and sat down a few feet away. Irene, on the opposite side of the

path, was searching fastidiously for a rock to serve as a chair. Oscar ran around and

around the field
.

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"I wish I could be a more promising subject," Quentin said. He tossed the stalk of grass

aside. "I fear my presence at the Haven contributes very little.”

She opened her mouth on a vehement protest. That is not true, she almost said. You

are important

important to Harper. To May
.

To—

"You have already agreed to pay," she said quickly
.

"And you have yet to take any of my money," he countered. "You said that everyone

here does his or her share of the work at the Haven, but you haven't asked me to do

anything." His lids drifted half-shut over his eyes. "I'm not really as lazy as I look.”

How could any man's voice be so

suggestive

even when it spoke the most

innocuous words? "I shall think of something," she said. "Have you any skill in

carpentry? The house needs repairs, as does the barn.”

"You'll find I'm also very resourceful." He plucked a wildflower and twirled its stem

between his fingers. "Tell me, Johanna—you've spoken of your father's dreams. What

of yours?”

She wasn't prepared for the change of topic. "My dreams are the same as my father's.

To help and heal those who suffer, using the techniques he developed—”

"I don't mean your goals as a doctor. What do you want as a woman, Johanna?”

The question was much too personal, but she wouldn't let him see how it affected her. "I

do not see why the two should be different.”

"Most women I've known long for a family. A marriage, children.”

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"I would hazard a guess that most of the women you knew in England were of your own

class.”

"You don't think of yourself as being in my class?”

"My father is of the gebildete Stände, the educated class, but hardly an aristocrat. My

mother was a merchant's daughter.”

"But you must confess that you are a woman, Johanna.”

I have been told in no uncertain terms that I am not a normal woman at all. "I do not

deny my biology.”

"Science," he said. "It isn't the answer for everything.”

" 'To him who looks upon the world rationally, the world in its turn presents a rational

aspect,'" she quoted
.

"More Hegel? I have another for you: 'We may affirm absolutely that nothing great in the

world has been accomplished without passion.'“

He was playing with her again, and she could not simply dismiss it as she wished to.

"My passion is for my work, as was my father's.”

"Did he love your mother?”

She pushed to her feet, brushing off her skirt with more vigor than was strictly

necessary. "Yes. As I loved her. You may rest assured that I have known love, Mr.

Forster.”