"Who is this?"

That was the second question Henry Clerval asked once he arrived to meet his dear friend and saw her in the company of a certain stranger. Perhaps, considering the imposing figure before him, he should have made this his first question. However, he was so captivated by Victoria that, simply put, he didn't have time to consider anyone else until he had greeted her.

"It's a distant cousin," Victoria replied, with astonishing calmness, as if she were already accustomed to vouching for her. "I won't bore you with the details, but I'll summarize by saying that she's going through a complicated family situation, and we've jointly decided that a change of scenery would do her good. Hence, I plan to bring her with me to Ingolstadt."

"Another one?" Henry muttered to himself, not intending for Évelyne to hear this part of the conversation with the scientist. "Your family must be quite large; it seems like relatives come out of the woodwork for you!"

"Almost, but not quite."

Victoria correctly inferred that by the "large number of relatives," Henry was referring to Éric. Éric was, among other things, a distant cousin of the Frankensteins. His father had abandoned him when he was a child, and his mother—who had a connection to Victoria's family—passed away without being able to take care of him. As a result, Victoria's parents adopted him, and Éric grew up in their house as if he were another son.

"Why have you never mentioned her to me before?"

"How could I if I didn't even remember her myself?"

It was obvious that Victoria was lying here. Henry was not only the friend with whom she had first settled in German lands when embarking on her university adventure but also the son of her neighbors in Geneva. Therefore, they had known each other since childhood. It was elementary that he would notice if she suddenly appeared with a stranger.

"No matter, it's good to meet her," Henry said, turning to the creature and offering his hand. "Henry Clerval. I study law at the University of Ingolstadt and, strangely enough, I'm one of the few friends that this hermit Victoria still has despite her total lack of social skills."

"Évelyne Beaumont," the creature replied. She didn't seem sure about what to do at first, but in the end, she decided to shake Henry's hand, perhaps because she felt reassured that a friend of Victoria could be so honest about her flaws to someone they had just met.

Of course, Victoria would be the only one not to appreciate this burst of honesty. And, although she didn't protest, her tone did become a bit colder when she asked Henry, "What are you doing here? I thought your exams were just around the corner. You should have stayed on campus studying."

"It's not like they were that close. It was more than enough time for a brief excursion to Munich and take care of some errands. Then I realized the dates, that according to my calculations, you wouldn't be long in returning, and I decided to stay a few more days to wait for you, thinking we could return to Ingolstadt together."

"Kind of you, but I don't need a chaperone. I've had more than enough company on this journey already."

"Was the carriage so crowded?" Seeing that Victoria took a while to answer, he added, "It's not usual for this time of year."

"We've traveled alone," Évelyne pointed out quietly, very accurately, as Victoria still had no intention of clarifying things.
And so it had been. More than twenty days had passed since they left Geneva, just over three weeks since Évelyne temporarily abandoned her attempt to murder her creator, and only a few hours since they reached the city of Munich and checked into a hotel, as had become their custom whenever they arrived in a town at a time when it made sense to stay overnight.

It was in that hotel that they ran into Henry because apparently, that establishment was the preferred choice for both him and Victoria every time they visited the city.

"You came alone?" Henry asked in surprise.

"Excluding the coachman, of course."

"But..." Henry turned to Victoria with an inquisitive look, though he himself didn't seem to know exactly how to phrase the question. "Why...?"

"Can't one indulge in a whim from time to time?" she interjected, having grasped what he was getting at. "I felt like having a quiet journey without having to worry too much about putting on a good face for strangers."

"Well, I've already gathered that you enjoy your solitude, but this is too much even for you."

Not without reason, as it wasn't very common to rent a carriage for private use. At least not for ordinary people like him and Victoria, who, while not poor, didn't have an abundance of money to squander. With carriages departing daily from major cities, the usual practice was to pay a lower fee in exchange for traveling with a handful of strangers. The schedules would be more stringent in such cases, having to adapt to the majority. So it was normal for monopolizing a carriage for oneself, especially when planning to cover such a long distance, to be considered a luxury.

"I saved up for it, any problem?"

"No, none at all."

Henry might think it was madness, but he knew Victoria too well to know that it wasn't wise to comment on it. Then, as for Victoria herself, she preferred to leave the explanation for why she made this decision as her own whim. Although the reality was that she did it purely out of caution; she knew that Évelyne was not accustomed to being in the presence of other humans for too long. So, she considered it wiser not to subject her to that abruptly.

If her theory worked, it would make more sense to gradually expose her to humanity. Not only for Évelyne's sake but for the well-being of others. Because, even though in those weeks Évelyne had shown no signs of violence, Victoria didn't rule out the possibility that she could become wild if pushed too hard against the ropes.

"How's the family?" Henry inquired, deciding to change the subject.

"Better than one might expect, given the circumstances."
Not only was the recent death of the youngest Frankenstein child still fresh, but also the trial for his alleged murder. Victoria still remembered how they dragged the innocent Lucy to court, accusing her and ultimately convicting her of a crime she didn't commit.

"I was thinking of staying a few more weeks," Victoria continued. She had already stayed a couple of days longer than planned because she didn't expect to accompany her family to a court. "But then I concluded that it didn't make sense. What would it serve for me to stay? William is not coming back, and the longer I delay returning to Ingolstadt, the longer it will take for me to resume my work and send some money home."

Not to mention, she didn't want to leave that creature near her family for any longer. To be honest, this was the main reason why she had fled so hastily. This and the guilt she felt because, even if she wasn't present, she knew very well that the death of little William would forever weigh on her conscience. If she hadn't abandoned Évelyne in the first place, that incident would never have happened.

"Your father would appreciate it if you stayed, just the same," Henry commented insightfully.

Yes, if her family still wanted her with them, it was because they were not aware of her involvement in all of this. Victoria didn't have the courage to tell them, not even when Lucy was at the gallows with no witness believing in her innocence.

Should she have stepped forward and, at the very least, expressed her doubts to the court about the guilt of another good friend of her family? It was possible; she didn't need to admit her guilt for that. But, again, doing so would require explanations she wasn't ready to give.

So, when the time came, Victoria said nothing and just let things follow their course. Trying in vain to convince herself that, in some twisted way, Lucy deserved what happened to her for being so naive as to plead guilty based on the mistaken belief: "God knows I'm innocent, so he won't let them hang me."

"And I'm sure Éric would be even more delighted if you did," Henry continued, unaware of this line of reasoning. "How long has it been since you visited home? It's terrible that after more than two years abroad, your return coincided with this unpleasant event."

"I trust they'll get through it without needing my help. You know I'm not good at comforting people," Victoria said before her friend could add anything about it. "On the other hand, it's good that the trial is over. This has been a hard blow to our family, and although I hurt as much as they do over William's death, I want to believe that now we can put an end to the episode. That my father will find the peace he longed for, now that the case is resolved and closed."

"Do you really think poor Lucy would do something like that to your brother?"

Henry was skeptical, just like Éric and the rest of his family had been when the police arrested their only suspect, because he knew Lucy all his life. He knew that the young woman went out of her way to please Victoria's family, especially the late Mrs. Frankenstein, and would never plot to harm any of them, let alone take a life.

"No, of course not."

Victoria was the only one in her family who never doubted Lucy's innocence for a second. This had nothing to do with the guilt of the creature—of which, although she had been suspecting, she found out later—but rather a matter of logic and established facts. Lucy lacked the malice to murder a child so violently, and she gained nothing from it.
"What happened to Lucy is that she was guilty of being in the wrong place at the wrong time," Victoria reflected, recalling that the prosecution's main evidence was that Lucy was seen looking for William near the moor where they would later find his body, once his disappearance was reported. "What I meant is that, with a sentence already handed down, my father can now relax and not have to live with the doubt of who could have done such a thing to poor William. And sometimes, uncertainty is worse than knowing the culprit of all your misfortunes."

"It may be true, but I still find it unfair what happened to Lucy. If only she had had a better lawyer... But well, I don't want to overwhelm you with these tragic topics when you've just returned. Even if you didn't want to stay in Geneva for longer, I still think you should refrain from continuing your studies for a while, take a break and all that. I don't think the university would object knowing that you're in mourning."

"I'm fine, really. I don't need more rest than I've already taken. How long has it been, three months? I think what I need right now is a distraction, not staying in the apartment doing nothing and occupying my mind."

"Well, I won't stop you. I'm just saying make an effort and think about your health from time to time. I wouldn't want a repeat of what happened two years ago."

Ah, how could she forget that? It was right after creating her monster and losing her: Victoria fell ill. It started with the mind, due to the shock that her experiment had worked too well and had run through the city unsupervised. Then it was the body, which couldn't handle so much anxiety and fear.

Contrary to Évelyne's imagination, Victoria didn't sit in her favorite armchair while sipping tea and maliciously contemplating not seeing her defenseless creature again. No, what happened was that the scientist fell prey to an illness that kept her in bed for several months, triggering depression and several anxiety crises that almost led to her death.

Henry didn't know the reason for the illness, but he was well aware that Victoria worked too hard, and at that time, he took care of her until she recovered.

"That won't happen again," she declared, determined not to repeat the illness, but also not to worry her friend in that way.

"You better not, next time I won't keep it from your family," addressing Évelyne, for the first time in a long while, he pointed out, "The last time she had a serious breakdown, she made me swear not to tell anyone until she was almost recovered. Do you know the stress that was for me? She could have died in my arms, she was so sick!"

"It's fortunate that he was there to help her," Évelyne conceded.

By her tone, it was obvious that she didn't rejoice at all in her creator surviving whatever ailment she had. But Henry must not have noticed, as he didn't take more than three seconds to say, "I think so too. If it were up to her, she would have continued to wear herself out until the end of her days. And by then, she would settle for a condolence note reaching her father to announce her demise."

"That's not true," Victoria protested, but Henry ignored her.

"That's why she needs to be watched. She seems very independent and responsible, but the reality is that she can't even take care of herself."

"The truth is, I had no idea about that side of her," Évelyne murmured. "But given what I've seen, it makes a lot of sense. Someone who couldn't take care of themselves, how could they take care of another being? It's obvious that Évelyne's thoughts would go in that direction."
"Enough," Victoria cut in sharply. "Henry, have you finished whatever it is you came to do in Munich? If not, I suggest you settle your matters as soon as possible. I also have some errands to run here, but it won't take me more than three or four days. And when that time passes, I'll continue on to Ingolstadt with or without an extra passenger in my carriage."

"I know, I know. You don't like me talking about you; it's more than clear. Don't worry; I won't say anything more. Today, I'm meeting a friend in a downtown café, and tomorrow morning I have to pick up some documents from a certain professor's office. But after that, I'll have concluded my business here, and I'll be all yours." Seeing that Victoria showed no pleasure whatsoever at this realization, Henry ended his speech turning to Évelyne. "While I'm not here, take care of Victoria. She'll probably get mad and say she doesn't need anything, but ignore her. When it comes to feelings, she's like politicians: they don't know how to express in words what they're going through."

"That friend of yours must be letting his coffee go cold waiting for you," Victoria insisted, now genuinely getting annoyed.

She couldn't read the creature's mind, but she knew it was an intelligent being. And judging by the half-smile Évelyne had given when Henry talked, she could assume she was having a great time listening to someone close to the scientist unwittingly humiliate her.

Henry finally left. They had met on the streets of Munich, just a couple of blocks from the hotel where they were staying, and indeed, they agreed to meet again later that night for dinner.

Victoria told herself she didn't have time for her friend's nonsense, but this was just a façade. She was actually happy to meet him because although the creature had not misbehaved during the journey, she had forced Victoria to be alert and extremely uncomfortable at times. So now she appreciated having someone close to ease the tension between them.

Maybe it wasn't the right thing to do, given Henry's loyalty to her, but at that moment, Victoria was glad she hadn't told him everything about her experiments. Perhaps, if she had, Henry wouldn't have reacted the same way upon encountering Évelyne.

"Let's continue with what we came to do here," the scientist instructed her creation once they had lost sight of Henry. "With any luck, some shops will still be open, and we can get some work done for tomorrow."

In the end, that's what she had stopped in Munich for, and not for any academic matter: she wanted to buy some more clothes for Évelyne. Since the camouflage was working, and no one paid too much attention to the creature's ugliness, Victoria thought it would be best to continue along that line of thinking.

Évelyne had proven to be a discreet person, either out of fear of humanity or because there was some truth to the absurd idea that she didn't want to integrate among the common people. So not many noticed her silent presence. But she only had the outfit she was wearing and a spare, at most. And that, in the long run, took its toll.

No matter how little attention she attracted, in the long run, it would be strange if she always wore the same clothes.

The creature would have preferred to stay in the hotel; she had made it clear to Victoria days before planning this whole adventure through the local shops of a big city. But Victoria dismissed it, arguing that it would be better for her to choose and try on the clothes to make sure they fit perfectly and avoid making another useless trip to the store.

After all, the clothes provided to Évelyne so far were tailor-made, and the scientist didn't know what her size would be. When she acquired those clothes, she did it by eye, thinking if they could or could not serve. And she more or less got it right, but it was always better for the interested party to verify it for herself.

They still had time before continuing to Ingolstadt, and the scientist planned to make the most of it.