Remarkable creatures by tracy chevalier 118

Maryhadinherlifeatthetime.IwasgratefultoothatMargaretnevertoldMary
IhadbrieflybeenwithColonelBirchattheAssemblyRooms,forMarywould
havewantedmetorecalleverydetailofthatafternoon.
Though it would not be proper to initiate correspondence herself, Mary
hoped and expected to hear from Colonel Birch. She and Molly Anning
occasionallyreceivedletters,fromWilliamBucklandaskingafteraspecimen,or
Henry De La Beche telling them where he was, or other collectors they’d met
andwhowantedsomethingfromthem.MollyAnningwasevencorresponding
with Charles Konig at the British Museum, who had bought Mary’s first
ichthyosaurusfromWilliamBullockandwasinterestedinbuyingothers.Allof
theseletterscontinuedtoarrive,butinamongstthemtherewasnevertheflash
ofColonelBirch’sbold,scrawlinghand.ForIknewhishand.
IcouldnottellMarythatitwasIwhoheardfromColonelBirch,amonth
afterhe’dleftLyme.Ofcourseitwasnotaletterdeclaringhimself,thoughasI
openeditmyhandstrembled.InsteadheaskedifIwouldkindlylookoutfora
dapediumspecimen,ofthesortIhaddonatedtotheBritishMuseum,ashewas
hoping to add choice fossil fish to his collection. I read it out to Margaret and
Louise.“Thecheekofit!”Icried.“Afterhisscornofmyfish,togoandaskme
forone,andonesodifficulttofind!”AsangryasIsounded,Iwasalsosecretly
pleasedthatColonelBirchhaddiscoveredthevalueofmyfishenoughtowant
oneforhimself.
Still,Imadetothrowtheletteronthefire.Margaretstoppedme.“Don’t,”
she pleaded, reaching for it. “Are you sure there’s nothing about Mary? No
postscript,oracodedmessagetoherorabouther?”Shelookedovertheletter
butcouldfindnothing.“Atleastkeepitsothatyou’llknowwherehelives.”As
shesaidthisMargaretwasreadingtheaddress—astreetinChelsea—doubtless
memorisingitincaseIburnedtheletterlater.
“All right, I will put it away,” I promised. “But I will not answer it. He
doesn’tdeserveananswer.Andhewillnevergethishandsonanyofmyfish!”
We did not tell Mary Colonel Birch had written to me. It would have
devastatedher.IhadneverexpectedsuchastrongcharacterasMary’stobeso

fragile. But we are all vulnerable at times. So she continued to wait, and talk,
andaskMargarettodescribeColonelBirch’sconductattheAssemblyRooms,
and Margaret did it, though it pained her to lie. And slowly the bloom left
Mary’scheeks,thebrightlightinhereyesdimmed,hershoulderstookontheir
habitual hunch, and her jaw hardened. It made me want to weep, to see her
joiningtheranksofusspinstersatsuchayoungage.