The Curious Steambox Affair Read Online Free Page B

developed during the past few days. All the while, MacDougal sipped his whisky, his sharp eyes watching me steadily.
    I decided to begin cautiously. “Am I truly assigned to Dr. Hyde?” I asked. “Or am I to be working alongside another physician?”
    â€œYou are Hyde’s assistant,” MacDougal replied. “As explained in your hiring.”
    â€œAh, yes.” I tapped my finger against the pages. Silence descended upon the office, the lack of sound broken only by the crackle of the fire.
    I will admit a deep frustration with this entire situation. I pride myself on my professionalism, and my dedication to my work. This sort of evasion, this great and strange mystery, seemed both a dire waste of my time and a source of discomfort. I made another attempt at understanding.
    â€œWhat I do know of Dr. Hyde, what was explained to me,” I began, making great show of shuffling the papers, “is that he is appointed by the Scottish Crown to conduct scientific experiments, alongside the usual medicinal practices. He has full allowance and license with his methods.” I looked up at MacDougal, waiting for him to correct me. Instead, he nodded sagely.
    â€œFull allowance and license?” I said again. “So, there is no one to regulate his procedures?”
    â€œAye,” MacDougal said, his gaze centered on the depths of his glass. “No one dares.”
    â€œI have never heard of such a thing,” I said.
    MacDougal barked a laugh. “And you never will, either. Hyde is the only physician in existence who possesses absolute royal authority. He has the Crown’s permission to research anything he wishes to, without waiting for approval. No weekly reports. No repercussions for failures.”
    I was, finally, stunned into silence.
    You must understand, Miss Campbell, this sort of scientific freedom is virtually unheard of. I certainly have never known it before. For all of their professed freedoms of science, the Scottish Crown is extremely rigid when it comes both to the awarding of such assignments and to their procedural conduct. It often takes years for a physician to obtain permission on a specific project.
    The bureaucracy is maddening. There is normally an immense amount of paperwork required, and an even longer waiting period to discover if the assignment has been awarded. Your father and I have often discussed the frustrations involved in such a system. Often, good projects are outdated and useless, only because the response time is so long from the Scientific Offices.
    To put this in ancient terms, if an alchemist desired to turn pieces of lead into gold, in our day and age he would be forced to petition the Crown for permission before he could make the attempt.
    And once awarded, there is paperwork that must be completed on a weekly basis, and submitted to the Office, thereby governing the most minute details on how the physician and his assistant may conduct said experiments. There is a sinister side to this business as well, a reckoning, so to speak, which is kept on file by the Office. These weekly reports cumulate in a record being kept and updated, detailing the success rates of each physician or scientist and his assistant. Failures result in revocation of Crown approval, and a refusal to grant support on any future scientific endeavors. Physicians lose scientific licenses should it come to that. Careers are ruined.
    To work without the impediment of Crown involvement? No lengthy waiting time for approval? No dreaded reports? How could this be possible?
    I was beginning to understand the reticence to discuss Hyde, if this was indeed true. Professional jealousy could be easily understood. How had Hyde managed this?
    The intrigue deepened. As did my curiosity.
    I took a much-needed sip of whisky, my mind whirling with disbelief. “How did he manage this?” I finally asked. “Is he political?”
    â€œHis family is,” MacDougal said with a