Free Dr. Frankenstein's Daughters by Suzanne Weyn

history and battle strategies. “It surprises me that you have this book.”
    “I read it completely when it was first published. Not for children at all. Much too frightening. But taken as a collection of folk stories, it is fascinating.”
    “Did you read it in German?” I asked.
    “I did. It would have been easier for me in English, but I don’t like to trust translations done by others. I prefer to translate for myself. I studied German in school.”
    “Would you like me to read it?”
    “Yes. Its gloom and misery will be just the thing. Plus I will be interested to hear a native German speaker read it.” He smiled after this statement, and I smiled back. I spent the next severalhours reading in a wooden chair beside Walter while he listened from his corner.
    At one point he reached out with his good left hand and took hold of mine. Startled, I looked at him. But his eyes were closed and his head leaned back in the chair.
    His hand was large and warm. The sensation of having my own hand enfolded in his was lovely. It occurred to me to lean over and kiss his lips. I imagined that if I did so, he would pull me to him to kiss me back tenderly.
    I became so lost in this daydream that my speech faltered. Checking him, I saw he had fallen asleep.
    I gazed at his face, so wonderfully strong and manly in repose. It was his bitterness that occasionally warped the fine male beauty of his features. I sat and watched him slumber for a while, picturing him as he must have been when in better health. Finally, setting the book aside, I left quietly.
    I think we have become friends. But I would love to be so much more to him.

FROM THE DIARY OF
BARONESS GISELLE FRANKENSTEIN
    June 25, 1815
    At last the day came for us to travel to Edinburgh, and Ingrid and I set out for the dock having sent our bags ahead in a cart driven by the arrogant Riff. He offered to take us but I declined, saying we preferred to walk. Now that Johann has returned, the man’s charms don’t hold the same power to thrill me that they once did, and I was glad to be in the open air with only my sister by my side.
    I’d written to Uncle Ernest and he replied that he was eagerly awaiting us in Edinburgh and would happily chaperone my meeting with Johann. Ingrid, however, was not as happy about this meeting and made no disguise of her disapproval. “I don’t trusthim,” she said in that overly candid way of speaking she can adopt from time to time as we walked along, nearing the harbor. “He was brutal to you. Forget him!”
    “Stop saying that,” I insisted. “You’ve made your feelings perfectly clear, but it’s advice I can’t take because my heart won’t allow it.”
    “Does emotion rule you entirely?” she challenged.
    “When it comes to Johann, it does,” I confirmed, raising my voice to be heard above the wind.
    “Well, don’t let it,” she insisted. “Use your intellect to overrule it. You deserve better than Johann.”
    “You don’t understand, Ingrid,” I replied. “You’ve never been in love like I have.”
    To my utter surprise, she blushed as deep a scarlet as I have ever seen her blush before. “ Have you been in love?” I inquired quietly.
    We had reached the harbor, where the tethered boats thumped against their moorings and screaming seabirds circled overhead. In this din I missed Ingrid’s quick reply and without saying more, her face lit with interest at something she suddenly noticed. Turning from me, she ran toward a white horse that was tied to a post.
    I hurried after her and when I reached her side she told me it was Lieutenant Hammersmith’s horse. After speaking softly to the gentle creature, Ingrid then accosted a man working at thedock, asking why the horse was there. The man said that Lieutenant Hammersmith had taken his sailboat out that morning, though he didn’t know where he’d gone to. “He can sail?!” she cried, seeming most surprised.
    “Once he gets into the boat, he’s fine,” the man