"Millie -- Part 4" by Megaera Callisto Lorenz

Jonathan conceded that it had been an amusing experiment, but seemed reluctant at the idea of repeating it again soon. “There is still much work to be done before she will be truly fit for polite society,” he said.

Polite society did not agree. Over the course of the next few days, I received several invitations to other dances -- all with hints that Millie’s attendance would be expected, as well. “Well, I shall certainly have to report this to Jonathan,” I said to myself joyfully, “although I do not imagine that he will be persuaded to try the experiment again until after she has been formally introduced to the world.” Just as well, though, I decided. This small demonstration had stirred a flurry of interest, and now the public would surely flock to the official unveiling of the wonder.

I sent a long and enthusiastic letter to Jonathan telling him of the invitations, and added, “Do hurry with your final adjustments. I am just as eager to see your presentation as the rest of the world!”

I received a brief and uncharacteristically curt response from Jonathan:

Henry,

I am afraid I have been forced to put off the presentation indefinitely. Please
do not bother me any more about it at present. Millie will certainly not be
attending any more dances.

Regards, Jonathan

I was surprised and disappointed by my friend’s reply. Surely he had not been that embarrassed by Millie’s behavior at the dance! She was decidedly odd, but her comportment had been for the most part harmless and amusing. I decided to follow his request and not bother him again, at least not for a few days. Perhaps it was simply that the frustrating process of refining his creation had put him in a sour mood.

The next day, however, I was astonished to receive an urgent wire from Jonathan. It said simply, “Am at a loss -- stop -- come at once -- stop.”

No sooner had I read it than I was dressed in my overcoat and out the door. I ordered my driver to go quickly, and soon arrived at my friend’s house.

Just as he had on the day of my first introduction to Millie, Jonathan answered the door himself. His face was ashen, and he seemed to have aged twenty years since I had last seen him. He spread out his arms imploringly when he saw me.

“Henry, thank God you’re here,” he cried hoarsely. “What shall I do? I will hang, God help me . . .” He put his face in his hands and hung his head in misery.

I took hold of him by his shoulders. “Why, what on earth is it, Jonathan?” I asked. “What has happened?”

“Millie is gone,” he said miserably. “It seems that she has sabotaged the switch that disengages her gears. She’s a devil, a beast ? she pretended to be switched off, don’t you know? Damn my ears, if my hearing were still what it used to be, I would have heard the running of her clockwork. And now she has stolen the key and gone. God knows what she will do. Oh, heaven have mercy upon my wretched soul!”

“My dear Jonathan, how unfortunate!” I exclaimed. “We must look for her at once. Why don’t you summon Clarence, and we shall all go and look for her.”

Jonathan shook his head. “Clarence has the week off. Besides, I couldn’t have him know . . . I didn’t want to let anyone know. But if I cannot trust you, whom can I? Oh, my dear friend, I don’t know what I shall do. I know I can’t hide it for much longer.”

“Hide what, Jonathan?” I pleaded. “Why are you so very distraught? I am sure we can find her.”

“Her leaving is just the last part of it, Henry,” he said. “The whole story is ever so much worse. I can hardly stand to think about it. I have never seen anything so horrendous, so monstrous.”

“What are you on about?”

Jonathan shook his head. “I must sit down,” he said. “I am a doomed man, Henry.”

I supported my friend’s arm, and we went into the parlor, where he sank down upon the divan. For several moments he could not force himself to speak. But at last, he began his tale:

“It happened the day before yesterday. I had gone out very briefly to pick up the evening paper and get some fresh air. I left Millie alone with Elsie, and I did not think to switch her off. It always seemed to upset her so . . . Oh, how could I have known? Clarence was not there to stop it. I saw a colleague while I was in town, and I stopped to chat with him for a time.

“When I finally returned home, I was surprised that Elsie did not come to meet me at the door and take my coat, as she always had before. Instead, upon entering the hallway, I met Millie. She was drenched in blood from head to foot. And the monster curtseyed to me, just as she always does, and said, ‘How do you do, Dr. Dupris?’ It was like some hideous farce. Oh, poor Elsie!”

I felt all the blood draining from my face. “My God, my God!” I gasped. “Go on, if you can. What happened then?”
“She bade me cleanse her, and said that the ‘fluid’ would impede her clockwork. ‘My God, Millie,’ I said to her, ‘where did this blood come from?’

“She replied with such terrible coldness. ‘It was within the inner workings of Elsie,’ she said. I became quite faint, but I ordered her to tell me where Elsie was. ‘In the parlor,’ she said, and I rushed in at once. What I saw, no man should have to see. It made the bile rise in my throat, and it was only by sheer force of will that I did not faint. Elsie was in pieces, Henry, in pieces! She had been torn open from throat to belly, her viscera pulled out, her limbs torn from her body. The smell of warm blood and death was overwhelming. And Millie just stood there, as serene as a statue of the Pallas. The very Devil!

“’Why did you do this, Millie?’ I implored her. And she replied ? oh, it was the most horrible thing I have ever heard! ? she replied, ‘I wanted to see the inner workings of a living person. I could make no sense of her mechanism.’

“’Beast!’ I cried. ‘Demon! Oh, you have ruined me! Do you realize what you have done?’ But she simply stood there, looking at me with that dreadful doll face, those great glass eyes. It would have been less horrible if she had done it out of malice, Henry. Then it wouldn’t have seemed so monstrous, so very inhuman!

“I was half mad with horror. I went at once to switch off Millie, and I left her sitting there in the chair by the fire-place. My only thought was to dispose of the body. I ran to Clarence’s shed and fetched a shovel and some burlap sacks. I had it in mind to bury Elsie’s body in the soil of the garden behind my house. It took a great effort to force myself to walk back into the house, and back into that parlor that smelled so strongly of blood. I can still smell it . . . it has pervaded the whole house!

“When I came back into the parlor, I found that Millie was standing by the entrance to the hallway. I stood staring at this nightmarish vision for several minutes, speechless. ‘How can this be?’ I cried at last. ‘I switched you off!’

“’I did not like the switch, so I disengaged it,’ she replied, still as cool as ever. And then she said, ‘I am leaving now, Dr. Dupris.’

“’But you cannot leave!’ I replied. ‘You will wind down!’ But she simply flourished the key before me, and then concealed it in the bosom of her gown. I could not find the strength of will to go after her. She simply walked out, while I stood there like a fool.

“I was delirious, Henry. I set about the task of disposing of Elsie’s body as mindlessly as if I myself were an automaton. I buried her in the garden as I had planned, and then set about cleaning up the blood. I spent the whole night at it and much of the next morning. After that, I burned my notes, every last one of them. I received your letter that afternoon, and sent back my reply. After that, I sank into a feverish sleep. It was not until I awakened this morning that I came to my senses and wired you. No doubt she has already wandered quite a distance. What a fool I have been! What will I do, Henry, what will I do?”

I placed a reassuring hand upon his arm. My heart pounded wildly. Now I, too, could smell the faint, dull smell of blood. There was a large, dark stain upon the rug that Jonathan’s persistent scouring had failed to fully remove. My head swam. I swallowed, gathered my wits, and spoke. “We must look for her at once,” I said. “There is no time to waste. Since there have been no reports of her showing herself in town, I imagine that there is a chance that she is still in the wilderness behind your house.”

Jonathan nodded hopefully, and we both quickly donned our coats and went out. We took Jonathan’s two remaining dogs -- my God! All at once I remembered what he had told me of the fate of the other two --  and we set out in search of her. But a fresh layer of snow had fallen since the last night, and her trail was obscured. We searched for several hours, with no success.

“It’s no use to continue today,” I said at last. “The weather is getting colder, and once it is dark, we will have no hope of finding her. We will continue our search in the morning. And meanwhile, you must not spend another night in that house. Come and spend the night with me.”

But Jonathan refused. “I must stay, in case she returns,” he said.

“And what will you do if she does?” I demanded.

“What I must do -- destroy her. That blood is on my hands, too, Henry. Perhaps if I destroy this evil that I have created, I will be vindicated at least in some measure. It is the best I can hope for.”

And so we parted company. Jonathan clasped my hands as I prepared to climb into the coach. “Pray for my poor soul, Henry!” he whispered. I nodded to him, and climbed into the seat. The coach lurched into motion, leaving my poor friend behind in his solitary misery.