Precious Secrets
Hyde, it seemed, would not be snuffed out entirely. Henry would never be rid of him, not ever...
One week before his marriage to Emma, things had begun to happen. Henry would be found by Poole staring into space as if daydreaming... but the not all of the things he saw were not creations of his imagination.
One minute he was in the room where he had first met Emma, time standing still as it had on that beautiful night that had changed the pair forever. But the next minute… the next minute there was anger, blood, brute force as Henry watched the murder of Danvers Carrew take place as if he had been the one to commit it.
He had seen it from Hyde’s eyes.
And the murder was not the last thing. Nights at the Dregs remembered with staggering detail, as if he had been there. Memories he had thought he forgot about, times in his childhood only he could know… The overwhelming sensation of sadness as he discovered his parent’s bodies all over again.
But not all of these visions were negative. Like the first, many were of Emma, of happy times they had spent together. Others were of his childhood with Utterson and Lanyon…
Which is why Henry Jekyll had thought nothing of a particular memory that flashed in his mind before breakfast one morning. Strong feelings of desire, moans of pleasure, heavy breathing, the sight of Emma beneath him looking deliriously pleased… surely it was simply the memory of his first night with Emma.
”Edward…”
The doctor had dropped his silverware upon his plate, eyes wide and unable to believe what he had just heard, as if he were there at that moment. It was Emma’s voice alright, Emma’s pretty face beneath him. But it was not his name on her lips.
Everything fell into place in one heartbreaking moment, and Hyde had managed in one stroke to hurt Henry more than he ever had. Emma had slept with Hyde of her own will, had enjoyed herself with him. The child under her flesh was not his… Conceived earlier than their lovemaking, surely, which explained why she had been experiencing symptoms so early.
Emma had only slept with him to hide her betrayal.
Henry was betrayed, heartbroken to the breaking point. He asked Poole to call Emma and request she come and meet him right away, that there was something of great importance they needed to discuss. The man left his breakfast untouched as he moved to the room in which he would meet Emma.
The girl came quickly enough, and Henry asked Poole to leave them be and lock the door behind him. Only when the man had done so did Henry speak, all the world’s sadness in his eyes.
“The child’s not mine, is it Emma?”
One week before his marriage to Emma, things had begun to happen. Henry would be found by Poole staring into space as if daydreaming... but the not all of the things he saw were not creations of his imagination.
One minute he was in the room where he had first met Emma, time standing still as it had on that beautiful night that had changed the pair forever. But the next minute… the next minute there was anger, blood, brute force as Henry watched the murder of Danvers Carrew take place as if he had been the one to commit it.
He had seen it from Hyde’s eyes.
And the murder was not the last thing. Nights at the Dregs remembered with staggering detail, as if he had been there. Memories he had thought he forgot about, times in his childhood only he could know… The overwhelming sensation of sadness as he discovered his parent’s bodies all over again.
But not all of these visions were negative. Like the first, many were of Emma, of happy times they had spent together. Others were of his childhood with Utterson and Lanyon…
Which is why Henry Jekyll had thought nothing of a particular memory that flashed in his mind before breakfast one morning. Strong feelings of desire, moans of pleasure, heavy breathing, the sight of Emma beneath him looking deliriously pleased… surely it was simply the memory of his first night with Emma.
”Edward…”
The doctor had dropped his silverware upon his plate, eyes wide and unable to believe what he had just heard, as if he were there at that moment. It was Emma’s voice alright, Emma’s pretty face beneath him. But it was not his name on her lips.
Everything fell into place in one heartbreaking moment, and Hyde had managed in one stroke to hurt Henry more than he ever had. Emma had slept with Hyde of her own will, had enjoyed herself with him. The child under her flesh was not his… Conceived earlier than their lovemaking, surely, which explained why she had been experiencing symptoms so early.
Emma had only slept with him to hide her betrayal.
Henry was betrayed, heartbroken to the breaking point. He asked Poole to call Emma and request she come and meet him right away, that there was something of great importance they needed to discuss. The man left his breakfast untouched as he moved to the room in which he would meet Emma.
The girl came quickly enough, and Henry asked Poole to leave them be and lock the door behind him. Only when the man had done so did Henry speak, all the world’s sadness in his eyes.
“The child’s not mine, is it Emma?”