Prologue
"Thank you for coming," Serge looked thinner, his face drawn and gaunt, as if he was already halfway into the spirit world.
"You asked for me," Julia stated, and settled across the table from him. Murdoch stood behind her, and she did not need to look at him to know his eyes were cool and calculating.
"I thought you might have questions?" he said softly, then placed his cuffed hands on the table and leant towards her.
"The first one being: why are we here?" Murdoch snapped, and Julia bit back a sigh, he might have made arrangements for her to be here, but he certainly did not like it. The man had murdered two women in a most brutal way, while his mother harvested their organs. He'd gone on to single-mindedly try to kidnap Julia, were it not for a cave in that shook the town and killed his mother, he might have succeeded.
"Whatever my methods Doctor, my research into harvesting organs and blood anomalies is vast, I do not want to see it disappear, "Serge said, and slid a tattered and torn miniature painting across the table to her. The warden frowned at it, and Murdoch frowned at the warden, prisoners were not supposed to have any personal effects on them.
Julia took it and studied it for a moment, a small redheaded child with eyes filled with laughter looked out of that painting. She had her father's dark eyes, a lot suddenly made sense and she handed the picture back to him, giving the warden a defiant glare.
"Siobhan, my only living child, was diagnosed with Diabetes two years ago, the same Diabetes that took eleven of my mother's twelve children, and five of mine," his voice shook as he spoke, "she's ten years old, and unless I find some way of cleaning her blood and repairing or replacing her organs she will never make it through puberty."
"I want you to get my notes, and my research, use it Doctor, find a cure for Siobhan and others like her," he turned the miniature over and pulled a piece of paper out of the back.
Julia hesitated but took the paper, there was a roughly drawn map of the underground sewers with a spot marked.
"I am not a scientist, Samuel…" she would have said more, but Murdoch gripped her arm and pulled her out of the chair. Julia was so shocked that she rose and let him lead her from the room.
"William…" her words were stopped by the look on his face, it was both stricken and angry.
"I'm sorry I did not want you making promises that you would regret later," he said, as he took her hand and put it though his arm.
"You cannot use his research Julia," William said as he firmly led her from the prison building.
Julia frowned and stopped walking, "I beg your pardon?"
Murdoch slipped an arm around her waist and urged her forward again, "people died for that research, their blood is on every find and discovery, morally using it is reprehensible, even if it is to save lives."
She wanted to argue, stamp her foot and scream, and yet she should not because he was right, but that did not stop her trying, "this won't just save some lives William, it will save hundreds of people, hundreds of children who are at this moment gripped by any number of blood disorders, this research could be the breakthrough of finding a cure for them,"
"Using it would be condoning what Serge and his mother have done, surely you can see that Julia." Murdoch argued, his voice filled with frustration, she could hear how strongly he felt about it. Years of pacifying the male species around her, of biting her tongue and keeping her own council when a fight would not gain her anything, kept her silent now. Arguing with him about this would bring her nothing, he would not be moved on his stand, and in all honesty she partly agreed with him.
They walked in silence for a while, a silence that stretched on longer than she realized as her thoughts consumed her.
"I'm sorry Julia, my tone was harsh," William stopped and turned to face her, for a second Julia wondered what she'd missed, before she realized that he'd mistaken her silence for anger.
"You were passionate William, I am not angry," she cupped his cheek, Murdoch's eyes heated up and he caught her hand in his, dropping a sly little kiss in her palm before tucking it back through his arm.
"What are you going to do?" he finally asked as they entered a small park and continued walking. Julia shook her head.
"I will look at his notes and then decide," she said. There was another thought on her mind, this whole discussion had distracted her from that, but she knew she'd left it too long already.
"When would you want to get it?" he asked carefully Julia winced and stopped. There was a little bench overlooking a small duck pond and she sank down onto it. Murdoch's eyes narrowed as he watched her face.
"Julia, is something amiss?"
"Do you ever feel overwhelmed by all the horror and ugliness our jobs expose us to?" she asked, watching the children on the other side of the pond trying to entice the ducks closer with bits of stale bread.
Murdoch sat down beside her and took her hand in his, "yes, often, but I would feel even worse if I were not doing something about it," he said it carefully as if not sure what her question meant and uneasy about his answer.
"Julia if you are unhappy…" he hesitated, "if I have made you unhappy…" he searched for words around a rapidly growing terror that her unhappiness came from him, and for the first time in his life Murdoch flinched from the truth. He didn't want to know, didn't want to hear her say that the utter unadulterated joy he felt at waking up every morning with her was not the same for her. So he pulled his hand back and rose, bracing himself, trying to keep the ripping pain around his heart from making him scream out loud.
"William, for an intelligent man you really are a dolt!" Julia snapped, jumping to her feet and stomping over to him, she fairly twitched with rage.
"I'm unhappy with my job, not you, never you!" her snarl turned into a squeal when he grabbed her in a tight hug that lifted her off her feet. Her breath was stolen again when he put her down and kissed her so deeply she saw stars.
"We're in public," she managed to gasp out when he finally let her go, but she was glad for his arms around her because her knees were very weak.
Murdoch ducked his head and grinned, "there is a very thick little wilderness behind here," he whispered in her ear, dropping a soft kiss on that sensitive spot on her neck where it met her shoulder. He'd learnt that it was one of his wife's many erogenous buttons. Julia dropped her head on his shoulder for just a moment, then stepped back out of his arms.
"As tempting as that is William, there is something I need to tell you and it cannot wait any longer," she sighed and taking his hand lead him back to the bench.
Just that quickly all laughter and fun was gone from his face and Murdoch felt himself stiffen up, only this time it was without the gut wrenching fear.
"Doctor Roberts came to see me last week," she started when he'd settled himself beside her, she tried to take her hand out of his, but he held on, refusing to let go.
"He's ill William, he has Huntington disease," she told him.
"Is there a cure for that?" Murdoch asked with a frown.
Julia shook her head, "sadly no, it's a hereditary disease," she sighed, squeezing his hand, she knew that like her, William had grown fond of Doctor Roberts, this would be hard on them both.
"He's dying," she said it softly, for a man who worked with the dead every day, Murdoch was surprisingly sensitive to the loss of people he knew and liked.
"Is there nothing we can do?" he asked, his face filled with sorrow.
"I'm afraid not," she said. Murdoch sat in silence for a moment and Julia waited, while his phenomenal brain ticked the problem around and around.
"Is that why he came to see you? To tell you this?" he finally asked turning to look at her. Julia avoided his eyes when she shook her head.
"Not exactly," she hesitated just a fraction, and in that short space of time she could feel him stiffen up.
"What is it that you don't want to tell me?" he snapped, and she jumped a little.
"He's offered me the position as head of psychiatry at the Woman's Asylum," the words came out in a rush.
"But you are not a psychiatrist?" he said it was half question half statement. Julia finally met his eyes.
"Not yet, but he has obtained me a place at the University of Vienna where I will train under Sigmund Freud himself." She waited, knowing that this was a turning point for both of them, Murdoch had made a vow before they got married that he would stand by any and all her decisions, this would be the strongest test of that vow.
"Is this what you want to do?" he finally asked, which was surprisingly not the question she had expected.
"Yes, yes I do," she said firmly. Murdoch rose and pulled her to her feet, tucking her arm into his he gently steered her towards home.
"Tell me more about these classes you will be attending," he said as they started walking. Julia felt a weight lift off her shoulders, she truly was blessed with a husband unlike any other.