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  "I don't know that we've been properly introduced. I am Henry Jekyll, your host for the evening."

  Carew continued to stare into the crackling flames, lost in thought. "Uh, yes. My thanks for the invitation."

  "Not at all, not at all. I have been hoping to make your acquaintance for some time. In fact, I am looking towards making a run for the House of Commons, and--"

  Carew turned to face Jekyll. "See here, I understand you're familiar with a man named Edward Hyde. Is this true?"

  Jekyll paused a moment, stunned. "I beg your pardon?"

  "Edward Hyde. He assaulted my son some weeks ago and I have been searching for him to repay his brutality. An Inspector Newcomen has been working the case, and says you're an associate of Hyde's. Is this true?"

  "Hyde? Uh, yes, I am aware of the man in passing. He is a former patient of mine. But I really have no true connection with him. I have been of as much assistance to the investigation as I can."

  "That's not the tale I hear. The inspector informed me that Hyde has been frequenting this very home of late, yet you claimed otherwise until pressure was applied. At that time, you confessed to not only knowing of Hyde, but was able to offer his neighborhood. Is this true?"

  Jekyll glanced about, hoping that Carew's voice had not drawn the attention of the room. "Sir Carew, my apologies, but I can assure you that I have been as forthcoming as I could in relation to Mister Hyde."

  Enfield stepped forward, shaking a finger. "See here, Jekyll, I've been meaning to address the matter of your association with Hyde myself. Why, not long ago, I witnessed the brute trampling a little girl underfoot just a few blocks from this very house. When we pressed him for retribution, Hyde went through the back entrance of your home and returned with a check for ninety pounds with your very signature on it."

  This statement aroused a murmur of shock in the crowd, in particular from Carew.

  "And now," said Enfield, "I find that you've been shielding Hyde from an arrest for assault? I've known you for years, Jekyll. I would have thought you were above association with such a fiend. Why you would support that monster's indiscretions?"

  I felt Jekyll break into a sweat as he blurted, "Gentlemen, I assure you, Hyde is no friend of mine. Where I have aided him has been due to forces beyond my control. But I am done with the man."

  Carew grunted. "Well, I am far from done with Hyde. And now you come to me, asking for my help in your career, when you have done little to aid with my son. I'm afraid that is impossible. I came this evening not to dine with you, Jekyll, but to advise that you shall have no sponsorship from me. I bid you good night."

  Carew strode out of the room.

  Jekyll watched him go in silence, then turned away. He remained silent for much of the night, but kept up a show of enthusiasm for the rest of the night.

  In the end, the party broke up and the guests departed one by one, leaving only Jekyll and Utterson alone together by the fire, enjoying a glass of wine and dry conversation.

  Jekyll twisted the head of his cane as he held it up. "Do you remember the day you gave me this cane, Utterson?"

  "Indeed. For your fortieth birthday. I advised you that you would be leaning on it before long."

  Jekyll chuckled. "And indeed I did."

  After a lull in their discussion, Utterson said, "I have been wanting to speak to you, Jekyll. You know that will of yours?"

  Jekyll made a show of laughter. "My poor Utterson, you are unfortunate in such a client. I never saw a man so distressed as you were by my will, unless it were that hide-bound pedant, Lanyon, at what he called my scientific heresies. Oh, I know he's a good fellow - you needn't frown - an excellent fellow, and I always mean to see more of him; but a hide-bound pedant for all that; an ignorant, blatant pedant. I was never more disappointed in any man than Lanyon."

  Utterson ignored Jekyll's comments on Lanyon, returning to the subject of the will. "You know I never approved of it."

  "My will? Yes, certainly, I know that. You have told me so."

  "Well, I tell you so again," continued the lawyer. "I have been learning something of young Hyde."

  Jekyll's face went cold as he turned away to glare into the fire. "I do not care to hear more. This is a matter I thought we had agreed to drop."

  "What I heard was abominable," insisted Utterson.

  "It can make no change. You do not understand my position. I am painfully situated, Utterson; my position is a very strange - a very strange one. It is one of those affairs that cannot be mended by talking."

  Utterson leaned closer and dropped his voice to a whisper. "Jekyll, you know me. I am a man to be trusted. Make a clean breast of this in confidence; and I make no doubt I can get you out of it."

  I felt Jekyll's face grow flushed. "My good Utterson, this is very good of you, this is downright good of you, and I cannot find words to thank you in. I believe you fully. I would trust you before any man alive, ay, before myself, if I could make the choice. But indeed it isn't what you fancy. It is not as bad as that, and just to put your good heart at rest, I will tell you one thing: the moment I choose, I can be rid of Mister Hyde. I give you my hand upon that, and I thank you again and again. And I will just add one little word, Utterson, that I'm sure you'll take in good part: this is a private matter, and I beg of you to let it sleep."

  Utterson looked in the fire for a moment in reflection, then rose to his feet. "I have no doubt you are perfectly right."

  "Well, but since we have touched upon this business, and for the last time I hope, there is one point I should like you to understand. I have really a very great interest in poor Hyde. I know you have seen him; he told me so; and I fear he was rude. But I do sincerely take a great, a very great interest in that young man, and if I am taken away, Utterson, I wish you to promise me that you will bear with him and get his rights for him. I think you would, if you knew all, and it would be a weight off my mind if you would promise."

  Utterson was silent a moment longer before growling, "I can't pretend that I shall ever like him."

  Jekyll stood and laid his hand on Utterson's arm. "I don't ask that. I only ask for justice. I only ask you to help him for my sake, when I am no longer here."

  Utterson heaved a deep and heavy sigh before saying, "Well, I promise."

  "Good. I shall be most grateful, and it sets my mind at ease."

  Utterson drained his glass and set it down. "I must be going now. Thank you for a pleasant evening, Henry."

  Jekyll escorted Utterson out, and his gaiety fell apart the moment the door closed behind him. Jekyll slowly headed upstairs to his bedroom and sitting at his bedroom window, gazing at the city asleep. When the sun finally peered over the rooftops, he rose and dressed to go out.

  Chapter Seventeen - Jekyll's Revenge

  JEKYLL'S CARRIAGE carried him to the church, where he found Father Stevenson. Jekyll related what had happened the last few days, including my interest in pursuing boxing as well as my affair with Rebecca Webb. I found his detailed knowledge of my life unsettling. It seemed I had almost forgotten that Jekyll could see, hear, and feel everything I did.

  He ended with a description of the dinner party, adding, "I intended for Hyde to be entirely separate from me, so that his sins would never affect my life. Quite the opposite has occurred. Our lives have been intertwined in ways I never dreamed possible. Hyde's assault on the son of Sir Carew may have cost me my future wife, my reputation, and my political career, perhaps more."

  "And this is what troubles you, my son?" the vicar asked. "That your -- that Hyde's sins have settled on you?"

  "Yes. Well, no. It's more than just that, Father. Hyde has his own clothes, his own home, his own bank account, his own woman, and could very well have his own profession. I only intended for Hyde to be a disguise, Father, a carriage in which I could ride and enjoy my sins without consequence. I never intended for him to have his own life."

  "If Hyde is the independent, thinking being that you claim, it seems inevitable th
at he would grow beyond the limits you placed on him."

  "Of course, I realise that now. I suppose I was nieve to believe otherwise. But it concerns me. I also find it takes a higher dose of the drug to change back to myself. I believe Hyde may be growing stronger. Someday he might overwhelm me altogether."

  Father Stevenson clasped his hands together. "The solution seems clear, my son. Cease to take the drug."

  "The past few nights I have tried. But it seems that I have grown dependent on the drug. Or on Hyde. I know not which. Perhaps both. But I find it very difficult to resist the drug."

  "But you must."

  "Yes. I know that, Father. I also know that I must find a way to undo some of the damage that Hyde has done already. I must place restrictions on his behaviour."

  "I do not follow you, my son."

  Jekyll picked up his coat and hat and nodded to the vicar. "I must go now, Father. I enjoy these conversations of ours very much."

  Father Stevenson sighed. "Of course, my son. But I still remain troubled by your somewhat blasphemous behaviour and urge you to return to the flock."

  "I will, Father. Thank you."

  They both knew this to be a lie. It had become clear to me that Jekyll's confessions to the vicar were more about discussing things that could not be discussed in public than in redemption from sin. Father Stevenson's vows prevented him from sharing Jekyll's secrets with the world.

  Jekyll left the church and gave the driver a new address, one I immediately recognised as the boarding house where Rebecca Webb lived.

  No. He wouldn't.

  Jekyll did, indeed, ride to the boarding house. He drew his coat in tighter at the desolate and grimy streets, shooing away the little children that scampered around him and his carriage, begging for pennies. Jekyll climbed the stairs and entered the house.

  Inside, Jekyll mounted the steps leading up to the floor where Rebecca lived. He knocked on the door.

  It opened a small amount, just enough for Elizabeth to peek out. "May I help you, sir?"

  Jekyll took off his hat as he said, "I'm looking for a Miss Rebecca Webb."

  Elizabeth narrowed her eyes, then slammed the door.

  Jekyll stood awkwardly in the hallway, glancing around, and waiting. Eventually, he sighed and headed for the stairs.

  The door opened again. Rebecca peeked out through a small crack, her eyes barely visible. "You sent for me, sir?"

  Jekyll returned to the door. "Hello, my name is Doctor Henry Jekyll. I understand that you're familiar with a former patient of mine, Edward Hyde."

  Her eyes crinkled in a way that suggested a smile. "Yes, 'familiar' is one way of putting it. What of it?"

  "I just wanted to warn you that Hyde is a very dangerous man. In fact, I do not know if you're aware that he is wanted by the police for assaulting the son of an MP."

  "I was not aware, but it does not surprise me. He is a very passionate man."

  "Passionate? Violent is more like it. I was attempting to treat his psychotic episodes, but failed. He is given to bouts of rage in which he is apt to harm others. Especially those he loves or who love him. And it is suspected that he killed a young woman much like yourself in Ireland."

  This enraged me. So, Jekyll would tell lies in order to deny me happiness, would he?

  But it seemed his intention to turn Rebecca against me failed. Her laughter came from behind the door again, followed by her voice saying, "Hyde is many things, but a murderer is not one of them. I do not find him as dangerous as you or others might think. You know not Hyde as well as you think."

  Jekyll blurted, "I must insist that I know Hyde far better than you. And I must also insist that you avoid him at all costs."

  "Doctor Jekyll, while I appreciate your concern, I must disagree with your assessment of Edward. He is a brutal man at times to be sure, but there is a kindness that lies beneath I have found in few other men. I will take your comments under advisement, but will not end my association with Hyde. In fact, if you see him, tell Edward I have missed him these last few nights and long to see him again. Now if you'll excuse me, doctor, I am barely dressed and already late for an appointment. Good day."

  The door closed tight.

  Jekyll sighed again and left, returning home. As he went throughout his day, my anger towards him swelled like a flame burning out of control. My every waking thought was dedicated towards repayment of his interference with Rebecca. With all my might, I focused on trying to overtake his will and drink the potion that night. Besides the boxing match I was scheduled for, I had to administer punishment for his intrusion.

  When it came time to retire, Jekyll slowly headed upstairs to his bedroom and lay in the darkness, staring up at empty space for a very long time, perhaps hours.

  Then Jekyll rose and dressed to go out. He descended the stairs to make his way to his laboratory. He slowly and carefully mixed the formula for the transformation, and held the flask for a moment, watching it settle into its customary color and disposition. He brought it to his lips. He drank.

  Jekyll stifled the cries of pain as his body contorted in transformation. When at last, I regained control, I was left gasping and sweating on his laboratory floor.

  I stood, elated by my freedom after so many days of helplessness. I swiftly rose to my feet and looked into the mirror placed nearby. I whispered, "You dare to intrude wupon my affairs, Jekyll? It is high time I interfered with yours."

  I raced out of Jekyll's home and rushed into the street to meet with Lucky. I gave instructions to return to my home to change, then gave orders to head to General Stone's estate.

  Lucky rode up to the mansion and I disembarked to stride up the steps. I knocked and the general's butler answered.

  The butler's nose wrinkled in undisguised contempt at my appearance as he asked, "May I help you?"

  I removed my hat and offered my card. "My name is Edward Hyde. It is of the utmost urgency that I see General Stone tonight."

  The butler took the card between thumb and forefinger and looked at it with an ill expression before allowing me inside. He escorted me to the drawing room and bade me to wait while he took the card to the general.

  The butler returned minutes later and said, "I'm afraid the general is not at home at the moment. However, he has left instructions that you, Mister Hyde, are not welcome in this home and requests that you do not return."

  I bowed my head in mock despair. "Of course. Alas, I find myself unwelcome in many homes due to recent improprieties. Very well. I would offer you a message to give to your master when he returns. I understand the general's daughter is engaged to a Doctor Henry Jekyll. I wish it to be known that I fully support such an engagement and offer myself as a witness to Jekyll's character."

  The butler raised his brow. "Indeed?"

  "Yes. I have known Doctor Jekyll for many years. He is wont to refer to me as a former patient, but that is hardly the case. In fact, we have been involved in many affairs over the years, both professional and personal. Much of Jekyll's wealth is as a direct result of some of my less orthodox business ventures. We are currently engaged in a very lucrative speculation in the New World that we expect to pay off quite handsomely. Between you and me, though Jekyll claims to have gone to university, he spent much of that time working for me. We have even shared the same woman on occasion. Yes, I would say Jekyll and I have been very close, indeed. Very, very close."

  As I said the last, the butler recoiled slightly.

  I put on my hat and smiled. "Well, if you could convey that message to the general, I would be much obliged. Have a good evening."

  I sang to myself as I left and returned to Lucky's cab.

  The deed done, I rode to the pub where I met Rebecca at our usual table. The pub seemed busier than usual, the air almost a fog of smoke with the patrons taking form only as shadows moving through the haze. When I reached my usual table, I found Rebecca there, encircled by young men competing for her attention.

  She looked up and her eyes s
parkled at the sight of me. "Edward, darling."

  I dismissed her suitors with a wave of my hand. The young men grudgingly dispersed, regarding me with glares of amazement and jealousy that I savored.

  Rebecca and I kissed before she immediately asked, "Where have you been?"

  I signaled to the bartender, who began preparing my usual as I settled into the chair next to her. "Away on business."

  She pursed her lips and wrinkled her brow in a mockery of seriousness. "Which you, of course, cannot share."

  The barmaid set my drink down, and I tossed her some coins with one hand as I reached for my glass with the other. "No."

  "Fair enough." Rebecca brushed her long curls over one ear as she looked off into the distance, then shook her head. "I had the oddest visitor this morning, a doctor named Henry Jekyll. Are you familiar with him?"

  I gulped down my drink and set it down hard on the table. "All too well."

  "He had some hideous things to say about you. Said he had treated you for psychosis, that you were wanted for assault and killing a woman in Ireland."

  "All lies," I snapped, then added, "Except for the assault. That is true. But I did not kill anyone."

  "Of course. I know that. You're not a murderer." Rebecca frowned. "I just found the whole experience quite bizarre. He was the strangest little man. What do you think of Jekyll?"

  "A liar, a hypocrite, and a meddler. Do not give Jekyll another thought. I am more concerned with the bout that Labonte has scheduled for tonight. Come. I will not be late."

  There was a bruise on Rebecca's shoulder that I pointed out. She dismissed it and adjusted the strap of her dress to cover it. "Don't worry yourself, my dear. I just had a spell of clumsiness and ran into a wall."

  We went to Lucky's cab and rode to Labonte's parlor, not far from the pub. Inside, we found a wide variety of games of chance, as well as a band playing the latest music and an abundance of young women.

  The boxing ring waited at the heart of the parlor, a simple square made of ropes. My opponent waited for me, a slender man with a well-defined physique that seemed more pronounced than I had seen before. He was bare-chested and barefoot, but wore pants and gloves. He regarded me with scorn as I approached.