“Whatever you wish, sir.”
“I am twenty-seven years old. The life span of one such as I is not long—perhaps forty years. I do not complain of that. Christ and Alexander had fewer years to accomplish their work. But with the knowledge of short life, I am perhaps too impatient. I have always had a talent for engineering invention. Two years ago I had what seemed like a most valuable idea. As you know, water power increasingly runs our spinning wheels and looms. But there is a problem in controlling the machinery to operate at a constant speed when the water flow varies.
“I have solved that problem. I place spring-loaded weights on the perimeter of the driven wheel. They move outward under centrifugal force as the spin increases, return inward as it decreases. Their changing position adjusts the water flow, according as the weights are farther from or nearer to the center. In this way, we can precisely govern and make constant the speed of the wheel, without human intervention. Do you follow?”
“I do, completely. It is most ingenious, and must be of vast value.”
“I thought so. In fact, I was so convinced of its worth that I sought an audience with his Majesty, King Louis. I was quite prepared to offer my invention, without personal reward, for the good of France. But I made a fatal mistake. I was sure that King and Court would immediately grasp the significance of what I had done—as you did. The king, after all, has a reputation as a skilled locksmith. I did not think that a large working model would be necessary. Now I realize that I ought to have controlled some giant wheel on the Seine or the Loire River, to demonstrate an impressive mastery over Nature.
“But I did not. Instead, I brought to the Palace of Versailles a small scale model, without the means to drive it. I cannot describe my excitement as I waited in the antechamber for my audience. I had rehearsed a thousand times what I would say to the king.
“It was all in vain. I was lost as soon as I entered the door of the royal chamber, my model in my arms. A score of people were with the king, men and women both. I heard them titter and giggle and remark to each other as I came forward.” Marйe’s voice became bitter. “To them I was not an inventor, Dr. Darwin, seeking to serve France. I was not even a man. I was a freak, a walking joke, a parody of humanity carrying in his arms a child’s toy.
“I began my explanation, stammering and lame-tongued. The king was not listening, he was too distracted by his jesting courtiers. One of the gowned women said, with no attempt to keep the words from my ears, ‘How does he propose to drive the little wheel? Piss on it, with his teeny-weeny little thing?’
“I stopped. The king waved a hand. I was ushered out. It was over, the end of my great audience.”
Darwin nodded slowly. “Monsieur Marйe, I understand the magnitude of your tragedy too well to offer sympathy. So let me instead ask two questions. First, would your ‘speed governor’ work as well to regulate the flow of steam?”
Marйe frowned at the sudden change of subject. “I do not see why not. But I know little about steam power, although here in England it is much talked about.”
“It will define the future. My second question: what will you do now?”
“I told you. Nothing. Unlike steam, I have no future.”
“That is not an acceptable answer. I can see why you hate bitterly the court of France. I would feel the same. But vengeance can never make a full life. I have a different suggestion, if you will hear me out.”
“Do I have a choice?”
“No. I speak now both as physician and engineer. For your physical condition, I regret to say that I can do nothing. It is congenital. For the rest—” Darwin rummaged in the pocket of his greatcoat, and came up with Jacob Pole’s letter. “Do you have pen and ink?”
“I will get it.”
Darwin smoothed a page and turned to its blank back side. “This part of the country may not be safe for you. You must travel to Birmingham, well north of here. When can you leave?”
“Nothing holds me here. If necessary I can leave at once.”
“Good. I am going to give you an introduction to a Mr. James Watt.” Darwin took the goose quill, dipped it, and began to write. “He will, at my request, employ you in the Soho works. I propose to point out that your possible contributions are many in number, and he should attend most carefully to your ideas on speed governors and anything else.”
“Attend—as the court of France attended? Dr. Darwin, I may be in England, but my height is no greater than in Paris. I will be taken no more seriously.”
“Not so. You do not know good Jimmy Watt.” Darwin was scribbling furiously. “Talk to him of engineering, you could be stark naked and painted indigo and he would not notice. He has said to me, many a time, a man is not measured by wealth or stature or family name, but by the ideas that lie inside his head. You and he will get along famously—take my word on it. He will teach you steam.”
He sanded the ink, blew on it, and stood up.
“Come to Newlands, early tomorrow morning. You will travel with Colonel Pole. You heard him, no doubt, tonight, but he did not see you and you observed only one aspect of him. You will discover the rest in transit. Let me only say that you may trust him with your life, and you should allow him to handle any emergency. As for me, I must divert to London for three days. When I return to Birmingham I look forward to hearing of your progress there.”
He took one last look at the calculating engine, then went across to where Elie Marйe was standing staring at the letter of introduction. He leaned down and held out his hand. “I say this, sir, in all sincerity. It has been an honor and a privilege to make your acquaintance.”
The other man stretched up to his full height as they shook hands. “And to make yours, Dr. Darwin.” Elie Marйe’s eyes were level with Darwin’s ample midriff. He raised them to the other man’s face, and added in a voice of new confidence and optimism, “It is as you say, sir, a man must not be judged by his stature—or his girth.”
A freezing wind blew in Darwin’s face as he walked the edge of the cliff, but he chuckled at Marйe’s remark. A joke was the best barometer of mental weather. Forget Elie Marйe’s size. The man was tough. He would survive, and for him the best years were yet to be. James Watt would welcome him like a brother, and between them they would light a torch to set the world ablaze.
And when that happened—Darwin’s thoughts grew more somber—Elie Marйe would have his revenge. The force of science was stirring in the world, and the old order of courts and emperors could not stand against it. This cold wind of midnight, blowing south into Europe, was for the old regimes. With America gone, who could say where lightning might strike next? The crowned heads of Europe had reason to rest uneasy on their robed shoulders.
Darwin opened the front door of Newlands quietly and went light-footed upstairs. He hesitated on the landing. Should he wake Jacob Pole, and tell him what had happened?
No. He proceeded to his own bedroom. Tonight his thoughts were too dark for any company but his own. Tomorrow would be soon enough for his old friend to make the acquaintance of a great man.
THE TREASURE OF ODIREX
“The fever will break at dawn. If she wakes before that, no food. Boiled water only, if she asks for drink. I will infuse a febrifuge now, that you can give in three hours time if she is awake and the fever has not abated.”
Darwin rose heavily from the bedside and moved to the fireplace, where oil lamps illuminated the medical chest standing on the oak escritoire. It was past midnight, and he moved as though he was weary to the bone.