Frankenstein Theory by Jack Wallen

assistant await you. Should you change your mind, please call on me, and I will see to your appointment myself.”
    “ You are most kind, Professor.” With the most earnest of intentions, I reached my hand toward Waldman. He accepted the gesture with a wink.
    The professor turned to leave and thought twice of his exit. He turned back. “By the way, what have you heard of Henry? I had hoped to see him return to his studies. The young man showed promise.”
    “ We parted ways just before my return to Geneva. I have not heard from him since.”
    Waldman offered a forced and crooked smile. “Very well, I look forward to seeing you at my door soon, then, Frankenstein.”
    I smiled and shook my head slightly. “Were I you, I wouldn’t hold my breath, Professor.”
    Once Waldman was gone, I joined Elizabeth in the dining room for a cup of coffee. She was busy stuffing her mouth with a bit of buttered bread when I entered. She stood and grabbed the steaming carafe of black delight and poured me a tall cup.
    “ Thank you, darling.” I kissed her on the head and sat at the breakfast table. From the spread I plucked a pastry and bit of fruit.
    “ With whom were you speaking, Victor?”
    The question came as no surprise. The answer, fortunately, was not couched in untruth. “Professor Waldman from university, checking in on the status of the research.”
    Elizabeth took a long pull from her coffee. When she’d swallowed, her eyes twinkled with a most natural curiosity. “Whenever will you let me in on your little secret?”
    The thought of Father’s theories being little was laughable. Fortunately, I was able to contain myself. “You wouldn’t understand the work, my dear. Would that I were a pianist, so you might watch me rehearse and still find joy in the process. Unlike your unmatched adoration of music, what I am doing would most certainly bore you.” I shoved a piece of pastry into my mouth and spoke through the mouthful of food. “Besides, the second your delicate sensitivities beheld the sight of the unsealed human…”
    Elizabeth shuddered. My strategy had worked perfectly. With a simple image, I managed to ween her from the need to meddle.
    “ I plan on going into town for a spot of shopping today, Victor. Is there anything you need?”
    There was. However, my needs could not be fulfilled by a run of the mill shopping adventure. “Thank you, darling. I cannot think of anything I require. Should I change my mind…”
    Elizabeth leaned in and kissed me softly on the cheek. “You’ll have to let me know before I leave. I do plan on being gone for the better part of the day.”
    “ Shopping on the Lord’s day.” I smiled and winked. “Whatever will the people say?”
    “ They’ll be too busy kneeling and prostrating at the altar of faith to see me taking great pleasure in the consuming of goods on a day I should be resting.”
    I returned her earlier kiss. “You are a saucy one, Elizabeth Frankenstein.”
    “ And you love me for it, Victor.”
    “ I do, indeed.”
    We finished breakfast and decided to give the help an extra bit of respite from their duties by clearing the table and cleaning the dishes. Once the kitchen had been returned to a perfect state of order, Elizabeth dashed off to ready for her day, and I to my laboratory to continue the preparation for the next phase of the work.
    This would be my Genesis—the origin point of the single most important step taken for the Frankenstein Theory. What I was about to do would make or break me as a scientist.
    I had to succeed. For science, for my father…for myself.

ACT THREE
     
    A Monster Most Human
     
     

T H I R T E E N
     
     
    The knock at the castle door nearly sent my heart into a fit of spasms. I had been seated before a raging fire, reading through my notes from university. Elizabeth sat delicately on a loveseat, sipping tea and tackling the task of knitting socks.
    Elizabeth startled from her peaceful state. “Victor, who would call