The strange swap of Dr Hyde and Mr Jekyll

Stride

Henry walked silently down the stairs, entered the dinning room and greeted Jasper, who was serving breakfast: some brioches with marmalade and coffee. He still had a lot going on in his mind, after what had happened: images of the sunrise shining in a myriad of different colors, of the many candies and pastries he saw and of his father's green tie wandered aimlessly in his head, and on top of that, there was a name, Edward Hyde.
Jekyll sat down, grabbed his cup, began sipping his drink, then stopped for a moment.

"Jasper," murmured Henry "I, uhm, wanted to tell you something." The servant politely asked what was it, but his master hesitated before answering.
"...A friend of mine will come here, from time to time, a young man by the name of.. Edward Hyde. You, and all the others, must treat him well and obey to whatever he asks you, as if he was me. He has complete liberty in the house, and most importantly, he has free access to my laboratory, even if I'm not home. Did I make myself clear?" "Crystal clear." Was the reply.
Jekyll moved his eyes away from the ones of his servant, and started eating his brioche.

"Anyway," said Jasper "I wanted to remind you of your meeting today." Henry looked at the servant and raised a brow. Jasper wasn't surprised. Jekyll often forgot about his commitments.
"You invited Mr Stride here, this afternoon, for a tea." Henry rolled his eyes. "Oh that." He let out annoyed. "It was at 3 pm right?"
"3:15 pm to be precise."
"Alright." He murmured, getting up and brushing off the crumbs from his brown suit. He was leaving the room, but then stopped, looked back at Jasper, and said annoyed
"let's change that "tea" in something more strong, like a brandy or a cognac."
Then, walking away, he whispered to himself "I'm gonna need a lotta alcohol to handle that."

~~~

The clock was ticking, and the noise seemed incredibly loud in the silence that there was the parlor; The dim, warm glow coming from the fireplace was the only light that illuminated that dark room, and two comfortable armchairs were set in front of the fire. Sitting in one of them, with his legs crossed, there was Jekyll. His eyes were fixed on the red flames, and his fingers were tapping nervously on the armrest. He had changed his clothes, and was now wearing a black, silky suit, with golden buttons, and a warm brown tie.

Suddenly, the door opened. Two people came in. One stood next to the door, the other, Jasper, placed two glasses on the coffee table between the armchairs, versed some brandy in them, and left the room.

Henry glanced at the clock.
"You're late."
"I-I am truly apologetic, sir, I-I am only a few minutes-"
"Shut up Stride." Interrupted Jekyll, trying to hide his irritation, and then, waving at the chair next to him and lowering his voice, he said "now, why don't you come here?"
Stride slowly got closer to the armchair, making the feeble light of the fire enlighten his beige waistcoat, his pale skin and his bright brown hair.
Jekyll looked at him, then at the other chair. Stride, understanding that he wanted him to sit down, nodded shakily, and sat on the armchair, in clear discomfort.
Henry sighed, took his glass, swallowed the drink, then placed it on the table. "You better have some good news for me."
Stride couldn't contain a little nervous laugh. "A-ah, yes.." he muttered, taking his glass and sipping a bit of the drink in it. "About that... I discovered the names of two more people that were involved in the m-murder.. one is Vincent Cawley, a-and the other is Gale Bilton.."
Henry sighed, uncrossed his legs and began tapping with his foot on the reddish carpet. "I already knew that. Also, Sir Cawley passed away years ago."
Stride doubtfully looked at Jekyll, and muttered "..how do you kn-" but Henry interrupted him. "You don't want to know."

The two sat in silence for a few minutes, listening to the perpetual ticking of the clock. Jekyll was the one breaking that heavy silence.

"What else did you discover?" Stride waited a long time before finding the courage to answer. "S-sir... that was all..."
Henry abruptly turned towards him. "What is the meaning of this?" He questioned angrily "I gave you the tune of 3 weeks of time, and that is what you incompetent found?! Two miserable names that I already knew?!"
Stride seemed to sink in the seat. He was sweating and his skin seemed to become even more pale.
Jekyll stood up, not being able to contain his rage anymore, and walked around in the room.
"I specifically asked you to gather all the information on the hypocritical, double faced murderers that killed.. that killed him, and this is all?!"
"B-but sir.." whispered Stride, but as he spoke, Henry rushed right in front of him, placing his bright eyes in the ones of the other. "But what?! What else do you wish to say to worsen your situation, Mr Stride?!"
Stride opened and closed his mouth, but without saying anything. Not a single word came out of him. "BUT WHAT?!" Henry shouted in anger.
"B-but I t-tried my best s-sir..! I r-really did..!!"
Henry placed his hands on the armrests of the other's chair, making him weep in fear.
"THEN CONGRATULATIONS!! YOUR BEST ISN'T ENOUGH. IT ISN'T EVEN CLOSE!! DO YOU REALLY THINK THAT JUST BECAUSE YOU "TRIED YOUR BEST" I WOULD GO EASY ON YOU?! THE FACT THAT THAT WAS YOUR BEST JUST MAKES IT WORSE." He yelled at the top of his voice. Stride's eyes were now watery, and he seemed unable to breathe.
Jekyll stepped back, looked away, took a few deep breaths, listening carefully to the ticking of that same old clock, then got once again closer to Stride, who was staring at him scaredly. He took another deep breath, then grabbed the old man by the collar, and in a low voice, said to his ear:
"I will give you one last chance to redeem yourself. If you fail me again, your daughters will have to make enough money, in ways only a woman could, just in order to buy a decent coffin for their dead father. Understand?" Stride nodded slowly. "Good." Henry threw him back against the seat, slowly walked back to his chair, and sat down.
"Go now, before you disappoint me any further."
Stride got up, and rushed out of the parlor without saying a word.
Henry waited a few minutes, then called Jasper.
"You called me?" Said Jasper
"Yes. I need more brandy."
"Okay Sir, I'll bring you another glass-"
"No. bring me the whole bottle."