Chapter 6:
Childhood
Friends
Ellen folded her
hands in her lap and listened attentively as Dr. Halifax began his tale.
“For reasons
that I don’t fully understand,” the
doctor started, “His Grace is…” He
paused and smiled, looking at the Duke who chuckled.
“I’m more than
one person,” The Duke interrupted
cheerfully.
Ellen nodded
slowly, trying to understand what they were saying to her.
“You see?” The Duke asked with wide eyes.
“Not exactly,
Sir. I’m sorry.” Ellen shook her head.
“Oh. Bugger.”
The Duke sighed, clapping his hand over his mouth when he realized what
he said. “Oh, pardon me.”
“Not to worry,
Your Grace.” Ellen chuckled. “I have
brothers. I’ve heard many words that
would make a lady blush. It doesn’t
bother me.”
Dr. Halifax
cleared his throat. “I don’t think we’ve
explained ourselves very well. You see,
when His Grace was a boy, within his mind, another entity developed. Whereas you and I awaken each morning knowing
who exactly we are, his Grace could be one of two different people.”
“Or more,” The muttered.
“For purposes of
this discussion, we’ll just say, ‘two,’ dear Punch.” Dr. Halifax smiled, patting his companion’s
hand.
The Duke looked
down at the child he still held. He
smiled. “See, look how peaceful Colin
is. I’m so happy for it. Only I never had that nor did me master…”
“Your master?” Ellen asked.
“Julian—the Duke
of Fallbridge.”
“Aren’t you the
Duke?” Ellen asked.
“Not entirely.” The Duke replied. “I’m ‘Mr. Punch.’”
“Ah.” Ellen nodded though she didn’t
understand. “Where’s the Duke, then?”
“In here,” Mr. Punch tapped his chest.
Ellen looked at
Dr. Halifax who sighed again. “The man
you see before you—the physical body—is that of the Duke of Fallbridge. And, as
such—as well as to avoid confusion in Society and downstairs—we refer to
him as if he were the Duke. However, the
mind is that of a being known as ‘Mr. Punch.’”
“I understand,” Ellen smiled.
“Do you?” Dr. Halifax asked.
“Indeed, I do.” Ellen replied. “Sir, if you’ll pardon me for saying so, when
I first met the Duke, I thought that he was like a man who was caught in
between two thoughts, two worlds…”
“I am.” Mr. Punch smiled.
“Your Grace,
many of us—all of us, in fact—have different facets of our beings, our
souls. Sometimes we’re joyful, sometimes
we’re silly, sometimes we’re angry or maudlin.
It’s as if these facets are different people. As I see it, in you, these facets are more
prominent, more developed—so much so that they have names and natures of their
own.”
“Coo! She does understand!” Mr. Punch chirped. “I gotta say, Miss Barrett, not many people
do. Ain’t that somethin’?”
“Yes,” Robert
nodded with relief. “And, I’m grateful
for it.”
“May I be impertinent,
Sir?” Ellen asked.
“Given what we’ve
just told you, I think that would be acceptable.” Robert laughed.
“I see that His
Grace is a decent, loving man. Some
might say that he’s mad for what you’ve just told me, but I don’t think
so. I think he’s, perhaps, more evolved
than the rest of us. Perhaps we’re the
ones who are mad.”
Mr. Punch
laughed loudly.
The doctor
grinned. “Perhaps.”
“I like to think
that I am a good judge of people, gentlemen.”
Ellen continued. “I can see the
affection and devotion that you share and the love you feel for the child. I will do whatever I must in order to protect
the sanctity of that.” Ellen said. She blushed.
“I hope you don’t mistake my honesty for rudeness. It is my downfall—this desire that I have to
speak my mind.”
“Not at all.” Robert shook his head. “I respect you for it. I’m glad that you’re the person to whom we’ve
entrusted the care of our Colin.”
“Here, I am,
too.” Mr. Punch replied. “Thank you.”
“Thank you for
trusting me, Your Grace.” Ellen replied. “I will keep your secret.”
“Gamilla,
Charles and Gerard know already.” Robert
nodded. “The others do not. We didn’t see any need to tell them. As you say, some would think His Grace mad
for this nature. I saw need to risk such
an error.”
“I shan’t
mention it to anyone.”
“You can call
me, ‘Mr. Punch,’ then. When we’re not
with the others,” The Duke exclaimed
joyfully.
“Well, Sir, I
might. However, I think it best that I
adhere to protocol. No matter your
spirit, you are still the Duke of Fallbridge and should be treated with the
respect owed to the station.”
“Oh,” The Duke/Mr. Punch nodded.
“I agree, dear
Punch.” Dr. Halifax added, softly.
The Duke
sighed. Both the baby and the Dog Toby
looked up at their “papa” to see if he was quite all right.
“May I ask one
final question, Your Grace?” Ellen said
quickly, so as not to lose her nerve.
“I
know, I shouldn’t ask. I just can’t help
myself.”
“Please,” The Duke nodded.
“Why Mr. Punch? Of all the other minds in the world that
could have developed within you, why…”
“Why a puppet?” His Grace grinned.
“Yes.” Ellen nodded shyly, blushing.
“Hmmm…” The Duke mumbled. “I don’t know for certain, but when Julian
were a little one—not that much older than Colin here—he had a friend that were
a gift from our pa…”
Ellen squinted,
trying to keep up.
Robert noticed
that she wasn’t following. “When His
Grace was a boy, his father—Sir Colin Molliner, the explorer and archaeologist,
gave him a puppet figure of Mr. Punch.”
The Duke nodded
eagerly. “That’s it. He was me friend, he was, that puppet.”
“Is this the
puppet?” Ellen asked, pointing the
figure which sat in the chair adjacent to hers.
“Oh no,” Mr. Punch shook his head. “That one, like I said, were a gift from me
chums Cecil Adrienne and Marjani. The
first puppet—he was killed…lost…when I went to America. But, me chums made me this one and I love him
just as well. But, that first puppet…well,
little Julian, he’d talk to him, he would.
See, folk weren’t too nice to Julian.
He had a terrible nanny…”
Ellen’s eyes widened.
“Not at all like
you,” The Duke added quickly. “That’s why we picked you. See, I was awful fearful that Colin’d have a
bad nanny, too. So we was awful careful
to make sure the governess were a nice lady like you.”
Ellen smiled.
“But, see,” The Duke/Mr. Punch continued, “the nanny were
terrible cruel to Julian, she was. And,
well…there was other folks what were also vicious. And, Julian—we would talk to the puppet for
it was his only friend. Well, after
awhile, the puppet—I guess that’s me—began
to talk back, I me master’s thoughts and such.
And, soon, I was there all the time, lookin’ out for Julian, me master,
and makin’ sure that the things what could hurt him stayed far away.”
“How awful for
you—both of you.” Ellen answered,
genuinely upset for the man.
“Julian weren’t
even aware of it for a long, long time—not ‘til me chum here told him.”
“It’s true.” Dr. Halifax smiled. “I’d met His Grace on the ship to
America. However, I knew I’d met him
before. I had doctored him after he was
attacked in Covent Garden, but when I did, he didn’t act as he did on the
ship. I realized that he was, in fact,
two different people in one body.”
“Robert, he
explained it all to me.” Mr. Punch
nodded. “And, since then, we’ve been…”
“Inseparable.” Robert completed the sentence.
“I think that’s
just lovely—truly, Sirs.” Ellen sniffed,
wiping a tear from her eyes. “My eldest
brother…” She paused.
“Go on.” Mr. Punch grinned.
“Well, let’s
just say that he, too, has a companion—just like the two of you.”
“Oh!” Mr. Punch exclaimed. “How nice!
Is he two men in one as well?”
Ellen
chuckled. “No—he’s quite dull. Just one man in one body.”
“Too bad,” Mr. Punch clucked his tongue.
Robert glanced
at the clock. “It’ll be time for tea
soon.”
“Oh, sure!” Punch’s eyes widened hungrily. “I love them wee sandwiches Mrs. Pepper
makes.” He let out a long, low
laugh. “Mrs. Pepper! Ha!
Oh, I’ll never not find that amusing.”
Robert and Ellen
chuckled, too.
“I shall take Colin
to the day nursery.” Ellen rose.
“Thank you,” Robert nodded. “Will you have nursery tea or join the others
downstairs?”
“In the future,
I’ll join the others, Sir. And, I’ll
certainly take supper with them. However, I think it’s best that I have nursery
tea until Colin’s a little older. I want
to spend as much time with him as possible.”
“I think that’s
just fine.” Robert smiled. “Miss Barrett…I don’t need to tell you…”
“No, Sir.” Ellen shook her head. “You do not.”
“Thank you,” Robert grinned.
“Here, Ellen…sometime
you should let me come up and have nursery tea with you and Colin. I think that’d be just a lark! Coo!”
The Duke chirped.
“You are always
welcome in the nursery, Your Grace.” Ellen nodded.
“Now, if you’ll excuse me.”
“Right!” The Duke replied.
“Good afternoon,
Miss Barrett.” Robert replied.
On her way out,
Ellen paused to take the list of Colin’s likes and dislikes from the japanned
center table. She folded it neatly and
placed it in her apron pocket. She,
then, carefully and gently collected Colin from the Duke. Holding the child close to her bosom, as she
left the room, she could hear the Duke chattering to the doctor.
“I think we done
right in tellin’ her, Chum.”
“I agree, dear
Punch.”
“She’s a nice
one, she is. I think she’ll be a good
friend to our Colin. He’ll have the
friend me master and I never had when we was little. I think that’s fine. Makes me happy, it does.”
“It pleases me,
too, dear Punch.” The doctor responded.
“And, it pleases
me as well…” Ellen whispered to herself
as she walked up the stairs to the nursery.
“I shall be the best friend I can be.”
Did you miss
Chapters 1-5? If so, you can read them
here. Come back on Monday for Chapter 7
of Mr.
Punch of Belgrave Square. And,
on behalf of His Grace/Mr. Punch, Robert, Ellen, Colin, Dog Toby, Mr. Speaight,
Mrs. Pepper, Gamilla, Charles, Gerard and the rest of the staff at No. 65, I’d
like to wish you a very Happy Easter!
