Diary Entry 4

Yeah, I said I'd do it "tonight" yesterday, but shut up.

Like I said, there was no real entry for June 9 aside from that poem, and apparently nothing of note happened on June 10, since that day got skipped completely.

June 11, 1891

Today I met Mr. Frederick.

It was the oddest thing. It happened about two in the afternoon, as I having tea with Bethany. We were in the middle of conversation about her poor fiance, when suddenly she simply stopped talking, and stood up. Her motion was so sudden that I nearly cried out in startlement.

I asked my cousin if something was wrong, and when she turned to look at me, it was like she wasn't even there anymore. The expression on her face was so... blank. It frightened me, and I thought that perhaps something horrible had happened to her.

And then the look passed and Bethany smiled at me. She told me that she felt it was time I met Mr. Frederick, as we had been in this same house for a few days now, and it was simply unthinkable that we had yet to meet. So shocked was I at this sudden declaration and strange behavior that I could only nod before Bethany seized my hand and led me through her house to Mr. Frederick's room. She knocked on his door, and timed her knocks in the strangest pattern. After a moment, a man's voice beckoned us into the room, and Bethany opened the door.


I immediately gathered that Mr. Frederick fancied himself to be a man of science. The walls of his room were covered with parchment, which in turn were covered in all sorts of diagrams and calculations. His only furniture were his bed, his dresser, his nightstand, and a table covered in beakers and glasses, most of which seemed to contain nothing but water.


Mr. Frederick himself was dressed in old and wrinkled clothing and his hair was completely disheveled and his face covered in stubble. I wondered at how long it had been since the man had groomed himself. He smiled at Bethany, and asked how he may serve her. It was strange, the way he said it. With a sort of reverence, the likes of which one would use to speak to a vicar.


Bethany told him that she wished to introduce me to him, and I forced myself to state my name and exchange pleasantries with that man. I suddenly found myself very afraid, and not merely because of Mr. Frederick's unorthodox appearance. There was something in his eyes as he looked at me that I can't quite find the words to describe. He was watching me very intently; far more intently that the situation warranted, and I found myself shivering and fidgeting under his gaze.


I do not know how long I stood in that awful man's room, nor do I wish to recall what we discussed, but I know that when we finally left, I was very thankful. I attempted to convey, as politely as I could, to Bethany that I had no wish to see Mr. Frederick again, but I don't believe she understood me.


Oh, I hope that I spend as little time as possible in his presence. That meeting with him ruined the whole day for me.