To whom it may concern:

I apologise for the long wait. You know how it is!

Thanks for the reviews!

SawyerFan - That's what Sawyer's there for, really! What fun would it be if you couldn't bang him up? Leading up to action? I think I've just realised that I'm naff at action and am, therefore, not writting much. In my opinion, action just interrupts the storyline! And as for Mr Vandeluer, well...
Faust - About Mr Utterson. I had never though of that, but thinking on it further, you know that Jekyll changed his will so that Hyde would have everything, but did he ever change it back? I must read the book again soon! Velkan? You must introduce me to Velkan! And I'm fresh out of rats, I'm afraid! There must be something else in the air.
Morph - Thanks for saying that that was your favorite line! I'm not very good at humour, but I was quite partial to that one myself! I'm glad you liked it! Thank you for the review!
Razz - ::completely bored voice:: Thankyou, darling sister, for revieing my fic. It was the most complimentary review I have ever had ::normal voice:: NOT! And you'd better not give away the plot, besides, I've changed it since I last told you! So there! ::blows a raspberry:: Huh! (Ta for reviewing though!)

Disclaimer: Once you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must still mean that I don't own LXG! Damn, probability!

Chapter 7 – Old Notebooks

John poured another drink for each of the others present, as if to try to cheer them up after the disappointment with the vine.

"I'm really sorry that I couldn't help you," he told them, passing round the drinks. Nobody replied to him. This was the only real lead they had on the enemy, and they could make nothing of it. John walked back to his chair and sat down.

"I will continue to research into this plant," John told Nemo directly. "Is there any address with which I can contact you?"

"There is no address for the Nautilus," Nemo informed John, who took a sip from his glass. "However," Nemo added, thinking for a moment. "I do have a radio that I could give you to contact us. It's very easy to pick up, I will get one of my crewmen to show you how to use it." John smiled broadly at him.

"Well, thank you very much," he cried with gusto, swirling the brandy around his glass. "I will ensure that you shall receive news on any progress I make."

There was a large cloud of dust that billowed up as Jekyll opened the hatch to the attic. Holding a lit candle in his hand, he climbed cautiously into the room.

"Are you sure you want to come up?" Jekyll asked Bet. "It's a bit dusty up here." He turned to look down through the hatch to see Bet, but she had already climbed up and was standing behind him.

"I know," she answered. "I did have to come up here to put your belongings away to begin with." Jekyll paused for a moment, then turned and made his way further into the dark.

"You're sure that Stapleton hasn't been messing about up here?" Jekyll asked Bet. She rolled her eyes.

"Yes! John hasn't been near the attic." She assured him. "Goodness, he only moved in today." Jekyll frowned and turned to face her.

"I really don't want anybody messing with these notes," he told her. "They're dangerous; you know they are." Bet giggled at him.

"You really must stop worrying so much," she told him, placing a hand on his arm. "Besides," she continued overtaking Jekyll and walking further into the attic. "John would have no interest in your work." She sighed, feeling slightly downhearted. "All he ever thinks about are his butterflies."

John sighed deeply as there was another lull in conversation and the room became silent. There was a definite gloom spread about the place. John shuffled in his chair, trying to think of a topic of conversation to take everyone's mind off the vine.

"Sawyer," he called out. "You're from America." John paused as if waiting for a reply from Sawyer. Sawyer smiled politely, feeling slightly uncomfortable.

"Yes," he replied. "I know."

"No, no, no." John muttered. "Let me finish! I mean, you're from America so you obviously know a little about some of the moths that you have over there." Sawyer blushed slightly, feeling awkward.

"I'm really not a butterfly person, John," He told him. John waved his hand in denial.

"Of course not," he placed his glass on the table beside him and leant forwards towards Sawyer. "But surely you've seen the lunar moth. It green and is about this big," he told him, indicating the size of the moth with his fingers. "They're very common, but I haven't been able to get one for my collection yet. You must have seen one." Sawyer shook his head.

"I'm really sorry," he told John. "I really couldn't tell you." John slumped in his seat.

"Never mind," he said weakly as he picked his drink back up and took another large gulp.

Jekyll followed Bet deeper into the attic. He wished that she hadn't married, especially to someone like Stapleton. There really wasn't anything wrong with the fellow, but Jekyll just didn't want to trust him. He was a threat. But Bet trusted him. Maybe her judgement should be respected. Gritting his teeth, Jekyll asked the question he really didn't want to.

"How did you meet each other?" He asked Bet, nonchalantly. She deserved for him to be civil towards her. She was obviously smitten by this man.

Bet stopped and smiled warmly. She turned to face Jekyll, moving the candle he was holding to see him properly.

"It was rather strange, to be totally honest." She explained to him. "I had decided to go out to buy some essentials from the market when I bumped into him." She tilted her head down and looked through the top of her eyes at the disinterested Jekyll. "Literally, I didn't see him at all. I just tripped straight over him as I walked from the door. He must have been walking past the house at the time.

"Anyway," she continued. "He was very sweet to me; extremely apologetic. I invited him in for a cup of tea as an apology for walking into him. He accepted and we spent the rest of the afternoon talking about our lives. He had asked how I came about to living in a house by myself and that's when I had to make up the whole story about you being my Uncle.

"From there we became friends and then earlier this year, he proposed to me." Jekyll looked into Bet's eyes, slightly disappointed. Responding to this, Bet took a step towards him. "I was only doing what you asked me to." Jekyll nodded at her silently.

Feeling slightly awkward, Bet turned and walked a few paces further. She bent down and placed her hands into the shadows.

"Here they are," Bet told Jekyll, pulling out a large wooden box. She wiped the dirt that covered the lid and opened it carefully. "Everything that I found in your study was put in here."

"Thank you," Jekyll told her passing her the candle and pulling the papers and notes out of the box. "Everything seems to be here."

He continued to check through the notebooks, one by one. He had forgotten how much work he had actually done before starting out on the quest to separate good from evil. He really should try to continue with some of his previous experiments, he thought to himself, now that he had a little more spare time. Jekyll went to lift the next book out of the box. It was a lot lighter that he had expected and he almost dropped it as he over estimated how much force to pull it with. Placing it on his lap he wiped the dust off the cover. He froze; it wasn't what he had expected it to be. Bet, noticing that he had stopped walked over towards him with the candle.

"What's wrong?" she asked, looking over his shoulder.

"They're my notes on Hyde," Jekyll answered her.

Jekyll held a large notebook in his hand. It was labelled "The Separation of the Dual Nature of Man." He opened it to reveal the first few pages of neatly handwritten notes. Bet marvelled at the intricate detail that Jekyll had gone into. He turned the third page and Bet gasped.

The remaining pages had been torn from the book.

NB: Oo er missus! (as Andy Peters would say) I'm rapidly running out of pre-written chapters! I can't say when the next one will be up, as I haven't finished it yet. I may need inspiration to hit me. But not too hard, I bruise easily! Reviews are... you know the drill!