Elephant Man - Christine Sparks [53]
“With the exception of Donner he seems to have brought out the worst instincts of just about everyone he’s ever met. He’s had a life that a fiend might have invented in hell. He’s had no childhood, no happiness—nothing to look back on but horror, and nothing to look forward to but more years as a spectacle, and the workhouse at the end of it.
“And yet—the incredible part is—” Treves fumbled for words to express his astonishment at what he had discovered, while Carr-Gomm waited patiently. “—the incredible part is that he has not become brutalized by this life. As a doctor I’ve seen too much pain and suffering to subscribe to the myth that it ennobles people. Mostly it makes men self-centered and callous to the needs of others. Yet in John Merrick I’ve met the one man in ten million who could react differently. He doesn’t hate his fellow men, who have done so much to deserve his hatred, nor has he degenerated into a despairing melancholic.
“He’s remained sensitive, intelligent—and lovable. His nature is gentle and affectionate. He’s without cynicism or resentment, and in all he’s told me I’ve never heard him utter an unkind word about anyone.”
“Remarkable,” said Carr-Gomm in a quiet voice. “And yet I can believe it. The little I saw of him bears it out. What do you think about this story of the mother?”
“I can’t believe it. Whoever his real mother was she obviously dumped him at the first conceivable opportunity. To protect himself from the pain of rejection he’s invented a fantasy figure in her place. Maybe once, a long time ago, some woman was kind to him briefly, and he’s convinced himself that that was his mother. He’s clung to the memory because he had to cling to something to make his life bearable, and over the years he’s endowed her with every virtue. She was beautiful, she was motherly, she loved him—I’m sure he really believes all this, but as far as I’m concerned she’s an invention of his own imagination.”
Carr-Gomm sighed. “I’m afraid you must be right. Well, Treves—” His manner became abruptly businesslike. “—we have to marshall our forces. The Committee is meeting in two days’ time, and it must be persuaded to allow Mr. Merrick to remain. Obviously he cannot stay in the Isolation Ward, so I propose to put him into those two little rooms that look out onto Bedstead Square, and which I understand are empty at the moment.”
“Bedstead Square—of course. The ideal place.”
The two rooms in question stood on the ground floor at the back of the hospital, looking out onto a large courtyard which had acquired the unofficial title Bedstead Square because it was here that the iron beds used by the hospital were taken for painting or repair. The rooms were seldom used, being inconveniently placed at a distance from the main wards. But their very seclusion would be an advantage now.
“They’d need some work to make them ready,” Treves mused. “The smaller one will have to be fitted up as a bathroom because John needs a bath at least once a day.”
“Then perhaps you will be good enough to give the necessary orders. If there is any question you can say you have my authority. And I should like you to be ready to attend the Committee meeting with all the facts at your command, and some of these.” Carr-Gomm indicated the file of photographs that lay open on his desk. “As far as I can see the only obstacle might be Broadneck. He has enormous influence over the others … not an easy man to impress.” This was Carr-Gomm’s diplomatic way of expressing his opinion that Broadneck’s mind had long ago scarred over with ignorance and bigotry. “In any case, if worse does come to worse we still have the British and Royal Homes to fall back on, don’t we?”
When Treves did not answer Carr-Gomm gave him a sharp look.
“Don’t we?”
“No, we don’t,” said Treves. “Their committees have informed me that they’re unwilling to take Mr. Merrick,