The Amazing Dr. Darwin

by Charles Sheffield

  “Another place setting, I think,” he said, wiping his hands absentmindedly on the edge of the tablecloth. “If you will permit me to bring another guest to dinner.”

  “Bring twenty, if you wish.” Boulton indicated with a wave of his hand one of many vacant spaces. “Right there. But I didn’t know you were expecting visitors.”

  “No more was I.” Darwin did not stand up, but pushed his chair away from the table to give more space for his belly. As the door was opened and another man ushered in, he nodded in satisfaction. “Jacob. I thought I recognized your bark. Jimmy Watt, may I introduce Colonel Jacob Pole of Radburn Hall, my friend and neighbor. Matthew, you and Jacob already know each other. What’s it like outside?”

  “Cold as Jack Frost’s backside.” Pole greeted the other two men formally, but added, “ ’Rasmus talks so much about you, I feel I know you well.”

  “And what does he say about us?” Watt, unlike Darwin, had stood up when Pole entered.

  “He says that James Watt is one of the great engineers of our time, and Matthew Boulton is this nation’s leading innovator of new machines.” Pole was tall and gaunt, so thin that his clothes hung loosely on him. He walked across to the fireplace and stood facing it. His complexion gleamed sallow in the firelight, and the trembling hands that he held out to be warmed told of other legacies of foreign travel.

  “Then sit down, man.” Boulton waved to an unused setting at the table. “Even if you have eaten, those words deserve a second meal.”

  “In a moment.” Pole hesitated, glancing from one man to the next. “I find myself in a difficult position. I am not alone, but with the cousin of my own oldest friend. He is outside in the hall. He greatly desires to speak with Erasmus. But I cannot disturb your dinner.”

  “Of course you can. You already did.” Boulton started forward, as though to head for the door. Pole’s uplifted hand stopped him.

  “Let me be more honest with you. I thought that I would meet Erasmus on his way home, and there would be a chance of private conversation. It was not until we were at the factory that I learned that he had come here. Now, I don’t know what to do. You see, the man with me has a problem that he describes as both private and personal.”

  “A medical problem?” Darwin sat up straighter.

  “I do not know.”

  “I see. Gentlemen?” Darwin glanced at Watt and Boulton.

  “I don’t know about his personal problem, or if he chooses to talk about it in front of us.” Boulton once again moved to the door. “I do know that it’s not right to leave a visitor cold and hungry and waiting in the hall. Sit down, Jacob. At the very least, have food and drink. Mulled wine will bring some warmth to your bones.”

  “And food will add flesh to them.” Darwin gestured to the table. “That veal and ham pie is the best that I have tasted this year. Trust me.”

  Boulton was returning with a man so muffled against the elements that his build and features were hard to determine. Frost on his eyebrows, moustache, and full black beard was slowly melting and running down his face and cloak.

  “Thomas Solborne,” Boulton said, “who is from Dorset. A county, he tells me, that is a good deal warmer than this one.”

  “Which would not be difficult, tonight at least. Gentlemen.” Solborne spoke with the soft accent of the English southwest. He swept off his hat, with its long peak and earflaps, and was revealed as a florid man of about thirty, wigless and with abundant black hair that curled down over his ears. He bowed from the waist, scanned the group, and addressed Darwin directly. “Dr. Darwin, I know that I am intruding. Take my word, it was not planned this way.”

  “What did Jacob say, look for the fat one?” Again Darwin gestured to a place at the table. “Please, Mr. Solborne, sit down. It was not planned, you say? Nothing of today’s events seems planned. I had thought to sleep in my own bed tonight. Let me, without delay, tell you my own feelings. Jacob already intimated to us why you are here. Everyone in this room, except of course for yourself, is an old and trusted friend of mine. I value and rely on their discretion. You have a problem, about which I so far know nothing save that it is a private concern. If you choose to describe it here and now, you will find sympathetic ears and close lips. If you wish to defer discussion until we are alone, that too will be quite acceptable. We will eat, drink, relax, and spend the evening in pleasant conversation.”

  Solborne was slowly shedding layers of clothing; woollen gloves, two cloaks, a long scarf, and a leather jacket. He was revealed as a man of medium and unathletic build, slightly overweight. “Eat, drink, and talk. Those I may accomplish; but it is two months and more since I could last relax. The purpose of my visit to these parts was to meet Jacob, and thereby seek access to you. Your reputation in the southern counties is unequalled. You are often said to be the last resort in difficult medical cases.”

  “I am flattered.” Darwin did not sound surprised.

  “And also in—certain other matters.” For the first time, Solborne hesitated. “I face a problem which may be medical, but which, quite frankly, points beyond the natural. I know that you reject such explanations.”

  “That puts the matter too strongly. I will not admit a supernatural explanation when a natural one can be found. And I should add, in my experience that has always been the case.”

  “But in this case…” Solborne spread out his hands. They were neat, well-kept, and had clearly seen no manual labor. He had placed food on his plate at Matthew Boulton’s urging, but not touched it. “I’m sorry. I do not know where to begin.”

  “At any point. We are not building a house here, where the foundation and walls must perforce be completed before the roof goes on.” Darwin smiled his ruined smile. “We can return as necessary, and fill in any missing elements. The whole evening is ours. The most important thing is to give full detail, and omit nothing. Detail is at the heart of diagnosis. Consider this as a medical task, whether or not it proves at length to be so.”

  “Very well.” Solborne finally, almost reluctantly, took a draught of red wine. “As Mr. Boulton mentioned, I am from Dorset. In fact, I hail from the farthest southern point of that county, near the tip of the peninsula known as Portland Bill. The Bill juts out into the English Channel, and my home sits on the western cliffs a couple of miles above it—am I giving too much detail, of no consequence to the matter?”

  “We have as yet no way of knowing what may be relevant. Please continue.”

  “My family is of old Dorset stock. We trace the Dorset Solbornes back almost to the Conquest. It is debated whether the family takes its name from the nearby village of Solborne, or the village its name from the family. In any case, my ancestors have lived there five hundred years and more.” Thomas Solborne caught the impatient look on Watt’s face, and grimaced ruefully. “I tell you this, Mr. Watt, not as presumed evidence of superiority, but rather as an admission of possible family defects. I have some knowledge of animal husbandry. I know the problems likely to arise from too close breeding.”

  Darwin leaned forward. “Physical problems?”

  “In animals. In the case of my own family, I may be referring to mental problems. Please be assured, I do not find it easy to talk of these matters.”

  “I understand. And you should be assured that although you have our full sympathy, you will receive from me—from all of us—the most logical and dispassionate analysis that we are able to provide. Nothing, of course, will go beyond this room.”

  “Thank you. I will try to omit nothing, no matter how painful or personal. I am thirty-one years old. I have one sister, Helen, eight years younger than I. My parents died within six months of each other, three years ago. The family estate of course passed to me, but Helen is unmarried and she and I both live at Newlands. That is the family home, one hundred and seventy years old. It was badly in need of renovation, and Helen and I undertook to accomplish that when the property passed to me.

  “We restored the crumbling mortar—”

&n
bsp; “Excuse me.” Darwin held up a pudgy hand. “You say, ‘we restored.’ I suspect that you did not perform the work yourself. Would you clearly distinguish between your own acts, and those accomplished by others?”

  “If it helps. We brought in workmen who restored crumbling mortar and replaced lost brick—the whole of Newlands is brick-built, except for twin towers of stone, one on the north and one on the south side. We had much of the woodwork replaced, wherever we found dry rot. Do you need to know the cost of these actions?”

  “Was it a significant drain on your finances?”

  “Not really. We have land and revenues in other parts of Dorset. Both Helen and I are fortunate enough to possess substantial independent means.”

  “Then let us continue. If necessary we will return to consider finances.”

  “The rebuilding that I have described took a long time to accomplish, but six months ago we were ready to take the next step: refurbishing the interior. New drapes, carpets cleaned or replaced, re-upholstering of furniture, and so forth. In this area, we knew that Helen would receive little help from me. I am not, technically speaking, color-blind, but I am close enough to it for my color aesthetic to be worthless. She, on the other hand, possesses a strong artistic sense. We agreed that I would be involved in financial decisions, but all other choices would be hers.

  “Naturally, selections could not be made while sitting at Newlands. Helen would have to travel to Dorchester, twenty miles north, or even as far as Bristol, seventy miles away, where a wide variety of materials and designs were available. I had no qualms about that. She has travelled before without me, even to the Continent, and Helen has always had considerable independence of spirit.” Solborne paused and took a deep breath, giving the impression that there was a lot more to be said on the subject. The listeners waited patiently.

  “For example,” he said at last, “I do not know your views of either politics or foreign affairs, but as mark of Helen’s independent views, let me say that while I greatly oppose last year’s revolt of the American colonies, she rejoices in it.”

  Darwin glanced at Watt, Pole, and Boulton, before he replied. “We are of mixed opinions. Myself, I hope for the ultimate success of the breakaway colonies. The more troubling question is, will it lead to other revolutions, closer to home?”

  Matthew Boulton nodded vigorously and leaned forward. “That is exactly what I tell Erasmus. We are all of us firm monarchists here—quiet, Jimmy.” Watt had made a sound between a grunt and an asthmatic wheeze, and Boulton turned to him. “I know that you favor the Young Pretender, but still you crave a monarch, even if he does not happen to be King George. Mr. Solborne, I have travelled much in Europe since the revolt in the Americas. France is stirring. There is unrest and fear in the royal families of Bavaria and Bohemia. The Margrave of Brandenburg has formed a special guard to seek out revolutionaries. Where will it end? Where should it end?”

  “We will certainly hold that debate—on another occasion.” Darwin held an open palm out to Jacob Pole, who sat frowning and waiting for his turn to speak. “Peace, Jacob. The floor belongs to Mr. Solborne.”

  The visitor, unfamiliar with the digressive give-and-take of Lunar Society members, had been sitting bewildered. At Darwin’s “If you please, continue,” he nodded.

  “As I was saying, despite her young age and strong opinions, Helen is familiar with the ways of the world. Or so I thought.”

  Solborne fell silent again, until Darwin coaxed him: “Tell us about her. What does she look like, what are her interests?”

  “She is as fair as I am dark. Friends have told us, it is an astonishment that two so different in appearance could be born from a single womb. She is short in stature, even for a woman. Helen claims five feet, but I suspect the final inch. Dainty in features and form. Men apparently find her attractive, since she turns heads at every market, fair, or gala. They pursue her. She sheds them with ease.”

  “She lacks interest in men?”

  “Say rather, that Helen is more interested in other things. I mentioned her artistic sense. That is secondary to her interest in philosophy and her gift for mathematics. Few men can tolerate more than five minutes of Euclid, Archimedes, Spinoza, and Newton. They come, they listen, and they leave shaking their heads. So when Helen made a visit to Bristol to examine brocades, and wrote to say that she had been given an opportunity to see the demonstration of an extraordinary mathematical device, I was not in the least astonished—not then, or when she extended her stay by three days to learn more of what she had seen. I was, however, much surprised one week later, when she returned to Newlands. She was not alone. She had with her Professor Anton Riker of Bordeaux, and his extraordinary calculating engine. Have you heard of it?”

  The others turned to Darwin. His grey eyes were thoughtful, and in them stirred something that Jacob Pole at least had seen before: an overwhelming and insatiable curiosity. “I know of the calculator built by Monsieur Pascal over a century ago,” he said slowly, “which performed addition and subtraction by mechanic device. I am familiar with the improved version constructed by Herr Gottfried Leibniz, a generation later, which also permitted multiplication and division. But the name of Professor Riker is new to me.”

  “As it was to me, and to Helen. She insisted that the professor, together with his machine, visit Newlands. Let me say that initially I was surprised by the appearance of a guest, but not disturbed. It was only later that my aversion to Professor Riker developed.”

  “His description, too, if you will.”

  “Above middle height, and thinner than Colonel Pole. According to Helen, his eyes are grey with a tawny center and he possesses a gaze of peculiar intensity, but I cannot speak to that myself since he has not once met my eye. He has an accent to his speech, something I think of Central Europe, but I do not have ear or experience enough to place it. He is courtly and charming in manner, but it seems the false charm of a dancing master or an actor.”

  “Seems to you.”

  “You are very perceptive, Dr. Darwin. Helen and I disagree strongly. She cannot see beyond his brilliance, which in truth appears to be very great. The performance of the Riker calculating engine defies description.”

  “I will nonetheless request that you attempt it.”

  “I knew you would. Here.” Solborne reached into a pocket of his leather jacket and produced a folded sheet of paper, thick and the color of clotted cream. “This is not my drawing. It is Helen’s.”

  Darwin unfolded the sheet and held it close to one of the candelabra, while the other four crowded around. The main line drawing was in green ink and filled half the sheet. An expanded detail of one part was shown above.

  “I have seen it for myself,” Solborne said. “This is accurate as to both layout and proportion. Here on the flat upper surface”—he touched the upper part of the sheet—“you see nine keys or levers. Here are nine more. Each lever has ten possible settings, for the numbers zero through nine. Thus it is possible to define two numbers, each with up to nine digits. This is an eight-way lever which controls the operation of the engine. Addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and the extraction of roots up to fifth order. And here”—he touched the paper again—“is where a number of up to eighteen digits appears. It is contained on a strip of paper, and it is printed, as by controlled type.”

  “Are these dimensions accurate?” Darwin was crouched with his nose almost to the paper.

  “They are. The whole engine, including its base, is two feet wide, three feet deep, and rather less than three feet high. It is also heavy, ten stone or more.”

  “Ah.” Darwin leaned back, his face sad and oddly disappointed. “Then I am obliged to question the inventive genius of Professor Anton Riker. There was, eight years ago, on display in the court of Emperor Joseph of Austria—”

  “The automaton chess player of Baron Wolfgang von Kempelen, which took the form of a seated Turk.”

  “You know of it.”

  “Ce
rtainly. It was no automaton, but relied upon a hidden accomplice. The device was otherwise impossible.”

  “I am not persuaded of that. Before von Kempelen’s secret was revealed, Mr. Solborne, I wasted an inordinate amount of my time and foolscap seeking to define a possible mechanism. I was unable to prove that such a chess-playing machine is impossible theoretically; only that it would be prodigious complicated, and probably enormous in size.”

  “Those observations would be yet more true of this ‘calculating engine.’ Dr. Darwin, my first response was yours exactly. This new machine, like the chess automaton, must be operated by some confederate of Professor Riker.

  “Helen soon convinced me otherwise. First, the machine stands alone, not on some specially constructed dais or platform able to conceal a man. It works in bright light, with everything visible, rather than in obscuring gloom. The von Kempelen device was operated using a system of balls and magnets, impossible in this case. Finally, and far more important, consider what the engine does: the printed output is the result of a difficult arithmetic calculation, and it normally appears within thirty seconds of the complete statement of the problem. The input numbers are provided not by Riker, but by the audience—I have done it myself. There is no way that an assistant could know the problems in advance. Even with the use of tables, it would be impossible to provide the cubic root or quartic root of a nine-figure number, or the product of two such numbers, so quickly.”

  “True enough.” Darwin pouted his full lips. “So, we have a mystery.”

  He seemed ready to settle back into brooding silence, but Solborne would not allow it. He took the sheet from Darwin and returned it to his jacket pocket.

  “A mystery, perhaps, but not the mystery. I would not travel so far afield, in winter, merely for the sake of some calculating device. My concern is with Helen, and Professor Riker. I already told you that I did not care for him, and I requested to Helen that his stay at Newlands not be an extended one. He and his machine departed three days after their arrival, during which time he offered me numerous demonstrations of the engine’s power. Then he left—but he did not go far. He rented a small house along the cliff, less than half a mile from Newlands, where he lives alone. And from that day forward, I saw the decline in Helen.”