Monster

Chapter 18 - Dr. Beaufort

Dr. Karalyn Beaufort lived in Gramercy Park, not terribly far from my own neighborhood of Lenox Hill. I arrived at her townhouse unannounced at nine in the morning. Her caregiver answered the door with a look of surprise at my unexpected visit, but invited me in. She led me to the small enclosed patio, where Karalyn was sitting in the sunshine, sipping coffee and reading. I greeted Karalyn, whose shocked and slightly terrified face verified Clerval's claim. Nevertheless, she greeted me kindly and offered me some coffee.

I let her pour me a cup and after the caregiver left us alone with a promise to check back in half an hour, we began the dance of inane small talk that people do when they are procrastinating confrontation. I inquired about her health, she inquired about my grief. I asked about her son, she asked about my travels. I told her about being chased around Europe; she swallowed hard and hung her head.

"Why did you tell Clerval about me?" I asked quietly. "Why did you break the NDA and your promise to your friend that you wouldn't reveal anything about my creation?"

Karalyn continued to stare into her lap and it was a minute before she responded. "I'm old, and sometimes my mind is slow to catch up to the things around me. Even neurologists are susceptible to the deterioration of the mind – except you, of course." She finally looked up at me, and sighed.

"Clerval approached me, saying that he was working on a project that would slow the aging process. He told me it was built upon some of Francesca's research, and that he had been working with her before she died. He said you were not only aware of the project, but helping with it and that you had sent him to me for more details.

"I didn't see the holes in his story until he had left, and I didn't understand the magnitude of what I was doing until it was too late. Now I realize that there is no way Francesca would have ever let that slug know about the Prometheus Project, and you would never consent to letting him study you like that. Furthermore, why on earth would you send him to me for information when you are the one with the records? And of course, you would have let me know that you'd sent him if that were the case.

"But at the time, it all made sense to my old brain. I've been kicking myself ever since. I'm so sorry, Victor, that I let him mislead me."

She shut her eyes in remorse and leaned back. I clenched my fist under the table. "Then why didn't you tell me as soon as you'd spoken to him, or at least as soon as you'd realized what he'd done? You could have warned me!"

Karalyn's eyes flew open. "I had no idea that he was going to hunt you down. When I figured out what Clerval's intentions were, I thought you'd be safe out of the country and that alerting you would just bring you back home and into his snare. I thought that was what he wanted."

I relaxed my hand, and softened my voice. She was right, she was old – 93 – and had protected Francesca and me up until now. She had done what she'd thought was best at the time.

"He thought that if he could find a way to stop the aging process, he could sell it and become rich and famous. And if he couldn't, he would out me to the medical community as a freak of nature, opening me up to others who would want to study me. But worst of all," my voice was raw with anger, "he was going to make Francesca look like a crazy, nature-defying mad scientist."

Karalyn snorted. "For accidentally doing what he had failed to intentionally do." I smiled wryly and nodded. We were quiet for a minute then she spoke up again. "You know, she was a crazy, nature-defying mad scientist. But she was aware of that fact. She knew exactly what she was doing and she didn't care about the repercussions until after it was done. At that point, she began to feel remorse for the life she'd taken, and I don't think she ever fully let that go."