Success!
Know:
Martin shakes his head. "I can't think of what Dr. Hightower has to gain by being dishonest with us about any of this."
"Well, Martin, I can't think of what would cause the good doctors Highsmith and Trollope to differ so. One wants my fellow artiste released, the other wants him to stay here. They can't both be correct," says Lucian. "While I wouldn't say that Alexander is dangerous, per se, I also wouldn't call him the picture of mental health. Certainly you would be a trifle disconcerted if you ran into him on the street and tried to strike up a conversation." Lucian thoughtfully takes a sip of his coffee. "So who is the doctor with the right idea? And why does the other doctor have the wrong idea?"
"No way known that the man we saw in there is fit for release, no way known at all. I think it is best he stay precisely where he is, and the longer the better. He deserves respect and dignity, and should be well cared for, but that care will require some long term supervision and professional help"
"I certainly agree that Alexander is not fit to be released, and I am certainly curious to hear once again Dr. Highsmith's reasons for wanting him released, given what we witnessed yesterday. I was just saying that I don't see why the good doctor would bring us all the way up here for nefarious purposes. Nor do I understand, at the moment, why he might think Alexander ready for release."
"Well, you can't say that he sounds any crazier than I do at my low points," Lucian says wryly. His face brightens up as he jocularly asks, "Say, do you think that they take advance reservations? It may clear up a great amount of difficulties if I simply book my room for my coming madness in advance!"
"Well perhaps we all have our moments Lucian, but his moment is just one long protracted one that seems to have started a long time ago and with no end in sight."
"That's fine and good to say, Spencer, but we don't know how he got there. In a few months time, you may find me with a few bloodless bodies about me, and while I will hardly be in a state to say 'I told you so,' I hope you'll remember my words and feel properly embarrassed." He sets his cup down with slightly more force than is strictly necessary, then looks about, seemingly at a loss as to what to do after his dramatic outburst. "...I suppose we should probably talk to Dr. Highsmith and get to the bottom of this, hm?"
"Well, I suppose we should be off to discuss things with the doctor. Are we all agreed that our recommendation shall be that Mr. Roby stays in St. Agnes?"
He finishes his tea, takes one last bite of a scone and stands, pulling his coat off the chair and pulling it on.
"Firmly Martin, firmly."
Your driver- one of the orderlies from the asylum- arrives shortly after you have finished your breakfast. The air is on the frigid side and the clouds coming in from the north promise rain- or perhaps even snow.
"Did you find the Wheatsheaf to your liking, sirs?", your driver inquires as he steers you toward the asylum.
"The town is charming, though some of the people we've encountered have been a bit... offputting," Lucian says mildly, looking out the window at the countryside.
"Well I, for one, have had a most pleasant stay. The Wheatsheaf was quite comfortable."
"Yes well I found it all a rather pleasant stay, I appreciate a chance to get away from the London lights once in a while."
"The town is charming, though some of the people we've encountered have been a bit... offputting," Lucian says mildly, looking out the window at the countryside.
"Sorry to hear that, sir. Some o' these country folk don't take too kindly to visitors; more's the pity, really, since Weobley is a lovely place during the spring when it isn't as grey."
The car winds up the hill to St. Agnes and the driver stops, exiting the car to open the doors for you. Despite the chill a few of the orderlies are taking patients for a walk around the grounds, warm coats thrown over their white canvas uniforms.
"Their stew was excellent, and as Spencer said; getting away from London for a bit feels good."
Lucian tugs his own coat tight around him, attempting to keep the cold outside. He looks about the grounds, watching the other patients taking their walks. "Maybe we should take good Alexander for a walk," Lucian says lightly, clearly making a jest.
Similarly Spencer prepares his own coat, ready for the omslaught of chill air.
"Well I take it we are all agreed that the patient could do with staying in permanent care and a full time facility?"
"Without a doubt," Lucian says firmly, his moment of lightness gone. "Whatever is going on with the King in Yellow and dreams and whatnot, I'd rather not have our man in the middle of it."
Victor chuckles at the thought of taking Alex out for a walk but nods seriously at Spencer's question. " I would hate to see Roby and Estus somehow find each other.." Victor exaggerates a shudder.
Martin agrees with Victor quite vehemently and nods as he shrugs the collar on his coat up. "I'm a little curious to see what the good doctor has to say to our opinion." He picks up the pace toward the entrance.
You file into the administration building and (the other) Mr. Reeves greets you at the front desk.
"Quite a chill this morning!", he opines "Dr. Highsmith is attending to a few patients at the moment but he shouldn't be too long. Please, make yourselves at home."
After hanging up your coats, you follow Mr. Reeves back to Dr. Highsmith's office where he leaves you to await the Doctor.
Spencer can't hear either.
Victor:
"... still hard to believe it could have happened. All that blood."
"I know- but we've got the nutter in a straight jacket at all hours. Never figured he'd be that dangerous... just goes to show..."
After a short wait, Dr. Highsmith returns to the office, shaking each of you hands and inquiring about your evenings, how you're enjoying your trip to the country. Pleasantries out of the way, he opens a file on his desk and gets to the matter at hand.
"Well gentlemen, now that you've had a chance to speak with the patient yourselves, what are your impressions?"
"I would personally rank him somewhere between a hatter and a march hare, Doctor," Lucian says frankly. "If I may presume to speak for some of the others here, I think that while he doesn't seem particularly inclined to any more murderous rampages, I certainly wouldn't want to have tea with him. Perhaps allowing him a greater range here in the asylum, a gradual return to some semblance of interaction - but certainly not a full release."
"I have to say I agree most certainly with my colleague here. An astute observation and capital recommendation"
Doctor Highsmith seems taken aback by your decision.
"Well... I understand if your conversation yesterday didn't leave you feeling confident about his mental state. Part of that may be that he has to be heavily medicated during this season; his scotophobia flairs up between October and December, the months around the time of his trauma. During the rest of the year, Alexander is quite lucid. I believe that this time can be extended if he is once again socialized with the normal world, with his family and friends. Had Dr. Trollope's misgivings been made known sooner, you could have consulted with him during his more coherent periods. And as you've said, he's not dangerous in the least: so long as he takes his medication as prescribed during his illness' active period, I believe he'll readjust."
Martin allows the others to speak first, watching Dr. Highsmith and listening to the doctor's response.
"So Mr. Roby was heavily medicated yesterday? Is that the reason he was so unresponsive at times? It seems as though he's quite focused -- even obsessed -- with a...mythology, for lack of a better word. Does he speak of Carcosa and the King in Yellow frequently?"
"And if he forgets to take his medications for a day? If, perhaps, he develops a tolerance for his regimen?" Lucian shakes his head. "Quite frankly, doctor, I find your willingness to release a man with a reputation for murder who hasn't recovered to be a tad irresponsible! Don't you think that he will be a primary target if the first bit of strangeness occurs? Or, God forbid, if he makes any strangeness occur? You'll probably have his life on your hands, if the hoi polloi get a hold of him, and maybe even other lives, if you are more wrong than you think!"
Lucian leans over the table. "If you think your little bird will do better outside of his cage, then give him some time out here first - a test run, while you still have the staff and facilities to accommodate him should something go wrong, and the people nearby have some knowledge of mental illness, and less knowledge of the... shocking particulars of his case. Having him socialize with family and friends..." Lucian thinks back on the Alexander's brother. "I'd be much surprised if his social calendar didn't remain about the same as it does here. I would assume that being in a room by himself would be about what our man would find at home, as well. If you want him to rejoin society, this is probably better for him than back in the city. I propose leaving him here, rather than in the country. Though I admit to be speaking only for myself..." He looks to his companions for their thoughts.
Dr. Highsmith seems taken aback by Lucian's monologue. He holds his hands up in a placating gesture.
"Now, Mr. McAllistair, please! Before you call my competence into question, let me reiterate the facts: Alexander was never found to have committed the heinous crime in question and his profound, likely unjustified, guilt renders him a victim as well as the rest of his family. In matters of psychology, there is no true "cure"- but there is management. While it may be disturbing to glimpse his fantasy world, he is no threat to himself or others: while committed, he has exhibited no violent activity- his only infraction was minor: the possession of several pencils."
He sighs.
"But perhaps you are correct, ultimately. Society may not be ready to see the mentally ill released from the asylums where they are expected to be imprisoned. I shall see to perhaps extending his privileges, perhaps supervised visits to the village. Mr. Reeves, Mr. Poole, you asked when we met if I would listen to your advice even if it proved contrary to my wishes: well, here is where I shall prove to be truthful. I will recommend Alexander's continued commitment."
Martin allows the others to speak first, watching Dr. Highsmith and listening to the doctor's response.
"So Mr. Roby was heavily medicated yesterday? Is that the reason he was so unresponsive at times? It seems as though he's quite focused -- even obsessed -- with a...mythology, for lack of a better word. Does he speak of Carcosa and the King in Yellow frequently?"
"No, he's never mentioned it- but I have seen the writing he's done in that Graves volume and I've examined the transcript from your interview. What can you tell me of it? The deranged sometimes latch onto fiction as part of their inner worlds- a way of asserting control that is lacking in their own lives. Often this is biblical in nature or a matter of familiar folklore that was a fixation during childhood..."
"Well it is certainly some kind of strange folklore, although I profess to know little about it other than it seems to be connected with some other abberant behaviour in London lately... I am not an expert, but the man seems to have the same morbid fixation."
Lucian nods tiredly at Dr. Highsmith's rebuttal. "I understand the facts as well, Doctor - but unfortunately Alexander won't be in a vacuum out there. Based on what I've seen of him, and what I suspect of people, I just fear that the world may not be ready for him, no matter how ready you feel he may be for the world."
"Well it is certainly some kind of strange folklore, although I profess to know little about it other than it seems to be connected with some other abberant behaviour in London lately... I am not an expert, but the man seems to have the same morbid fixation."
"Aberrant behavior? Of what nature?", the Doctor asks.
"Some craze we have witnessed lately, seems to be some devilish fixation that has plagued certain members of the artistic community in London, all based around the works of some playwright, or perhaps he based his works upon the fixation, not sure. Either way it has borne out in random acts of violence from otherwise rational appearing folk"
"Honestly, Dr. Highsmith, it's this phenomenon of which Spencer speaks that concerns me the most." Martin adds, rubbing at his chin. "Many of the unusual things that Alexander speaks of are having an unusual, even hysterical, effect on certain elements of London society. For that alone, it may not be wise to allow Alexander to leave here. He could become fixated on such things and worsen rather than improve."
Dr. Highsmith listens closely, pulling a fountain pen from his desk and taking notes on a pad. He sounds skeptical when he asks:
"I haven't read anything about some widespread hysteria in the paper- where did this begin and when did you experience it? How can a play possibly cause the mayhem you have described?"
"It began, at least for us, when we attended a play in London called The Queen and the Stranger. It's an adaptation of a french novel, staged by a local playwright Talbot Estus. The play itself features some disturbing scenes and very strange symbolism. How it has rooted itself into the psyche of so many people, I can't say, though I suspect it has much more to do with the story itself and not so much the play. Those who have just read the novel have experienced similar problems. Does Alex have any access to books? Perhaps he read the King in Yellow while he was here?"
"You've seen for yourself that he has several books in his cell; after all, he needs to pass his hours of confinement in some way. I've never heard of this "King In Yellow" you speak of, however, much less ever seen a volume."
Dr. Highsmith clears his throat.
"Forgive me, but the direction of this conversation has taken a less than clinical digression. Am I to understand that your objection to Mr. Roby's release has something to do with a play that, you believe, somehow provokes a hysterical reaction in its audience?"
"Exactly as my fellows say. It has taken root and showing itself to be a bit of a new phenomenon, and not a good one"
Lucian sits quietly during the conversation of the 'hysteria,' carefully not speaking up. He would rather not draw the doctor's attention, having an uncomfortable thought of himself in the outfit he's seen the patients wearing.
Martin shakes his head. "The play is just a curiosity. It can't be at all connected to what's actually wrong with Alexander, given that the play itself was only performed once in London and that was a few weeks ago. It was just curious that some of what Alexander said shares a certain quality with the unusual things going on in London."
He pats his pocket to ensure that his cigar case is still secure there and goes on. "Even were the coincidence non-existent, I'd be concerned about Alexander returning home as out of sorts as he seems to be. I suspect that his brother is not particularly interested in seeing to his care which also suggests that it won't be the right place for him. Living in a place where one is unwanted certainly isn't healthy, is it?"
"Quite true, Mr. Poole.", Dr. Highsmith says,"If you come across a copy of this play that Alexander is fixated upon, please let me know. I would be curious for some further window into his condition. Do you gentlemen have anything further you would like to add for your recommendation?"
Dr. Highsmith pats the transcript from yesterday and the various notes he had taken into Roby's file.