Doctor Who_ Camera Obscura - Lloyd Rose [85]
‘You’re just a child,’ said the Doctor gently.
Her head snapped up. ‘I am not!’ she sniffled. ‘Ask Sebastian.’
‘There are many things I’d like to ask Sebastian,’ said the Doctor. ‘Unfortunately, he’s not here.’
‘Oh! That’s right!’ She began sobbing again. ‘She liked him too!’
‘Miss Jane?’
‘At least, she liked Nathaniel. And they’re the same.’
‘Not exactly,’ said the Doctor drily. ‘As you may have discovered.’
Her response was to sob more loudly. Sabbath shifted irritably. The Doctor raised a hand for patience and leaned towards Millie again. ‘Why don’t you go inside now, and let me talk to Miss Jane? I’ll see what I can do.’
‘About what?’ said Miss Jane’s low voice. Both men started. She looked at her handkerchief in bewilderment, felt her face. ‘Why am I crying?’ She saw Sabbath and shrank back in alarm. ‘Who are you? Oh,’ she grabbed the Doctor’s hand, panicked, ‘where am I?’
‘In an inn on the edge of Dartmoor,’ he said soothingly. ‘It’s all right.’
‘Has she – Did she ‐?’
‘No,’ said the Doctor. ‘There’s been some excitement, I’ll tell you about it, but she hasn’t done any harm.’
‘What day is it?’
‘July 31st.’
‘Oh dear God.’ She pressed the handkerchief to her mouth.
The Doctor glanced up at Sabbath, and he nodded in understanding and withdrew. Once the door was shut, the Doctor said nothing, only continued to hold Miss Jane’s hand. She didn’t cry, but sat for several minutes with her eyes shut. Finally she looked up. ‘I’m all right.’
‘Are you?’ he said. ‘Or do you still want to die?’
She blushed in shame. ‘Did she tell you that?’
‘It was why she came out and stayed out. She’s afraid.’
Her eyes dropped.
‘Listen.’ The Doctor held her hand more tightly. ‘We are in the middle of something very important and very dangerous. Much of what’s happened to you lately is the result of this crisis. When it’s resolved, things will be different for you. Please wait and see.’ She didn’t look at him. He shook her hand gently. ‘Please.’
‘All right,’ she said. But she still didn’t look up.
* * *
The Doctor recruited Anji and Fitz to explain to Constance Jane what had been happening. After checking to see whether a telegram had arrived from Chiltern’s clinic and finding none had, he took Sabbath to Chiltern’s room. This too contained a single chair, an armchair in faded chintz, in which Chiltern was sitting as they came in, staring at nothing in particular. The room was in the second storey, up under the eaves, and Sabbath would have had to stoop slightly if he hadn’t sat on the bed. The small window didn’t let in much light, and Chiltern’s face was haggard in the dimness. The Doctor stood with his hands in his pockets, rocking slightly on his heels, regarding him with sympathy. ‘I don’t have much hope for this,’ he said to Sabbath. ‘I’ve hypnotised him before. Under the false memories he created to give himself a past, there’s not much genuine memory in there.’
‘Is there much of anything?’
‘Well, yes.’ The Doctor was tapping his lip again. ‘That’s what’s so interesting. He’d created a surprisingly strong character around that fragment of personality. A very decent, intelligent, compassionate man. Admirable, really. What I think – and I have no proof at all – is that what might commonly be called Sebastian’s “virtues” fractured off to form Nathaniel.’
‘So he’s without faults?’ said Sabbath cynically.
‘I wouldn’t go that far. But the centre of the self – or the foundation if you prefer that analogy – is “good”, and the weaker character elements are pushed to the edges. This depleted creature you see isn’t him. I think it’s a form of temporary psychological shock and that he’ll come out of it when he’s ready.’
‘Shock at discovering he was only part of a whole?’
‘Exactly. Dreadful thing to find out. It would undermine your whole sense of identity.’ The Doctor bent, hands on knees, so that his eyes were level with Chiltern’s. ‘I’m not sure I can even hypnotise him in this state. Let’s see. Dr Chiltern,’ he called softly, ‘it’s the Doctor. Will you come here? Look at me, please. Just look at me,