preserve as she found it.' I gestured to the tail, which no longer had a kink three-quarters of the way along.
Perhaps the most upsetting thing about Mary's creature being presented in this vulgar way was how much it cheapened the experience of seeing it. In Lyme people were impressed by its strangeness, and gave it hushed respect. At Bullock's Museum it was just another display amongst many, and not even the most awe-inspiring. Though I hated seeing it laid out and dressed so ludicrously, I grew angry at visitors who gave it just a quick glance before hurrying back to the flashier elephant or hippo.
John had a word with one of the attendants and discovered that the specimen had been on display since the previous autumn, meaning Lord Henley had only owned it for a few months before selling it on.
I was so angry that I could not enjoy the rest of the museum. Johnny grew bored with my mood, as indeed did everyone but Louise, who took me off to Fortnum's for a cup of tea so that I could rant without disturbing the rest of the family. 'How could he sell it?' I repeated, stirring my tea violently with a tiny spoon. 'How could he take something so unusual, so remarkable, so linked to Lyme and to Mary, and sell it to a man who dresses it up like a doll and shows it off as if it is something to be laughed at! How dare he?'
Louise laid her hand over mine to stop me doing damage to one of Fortnum's cups. I dropped the spoon and leaned forward. 'Do you know, Louise,' I began, 'I think--I think it's not a crocodile at all. It doesn't have the anatomy of a crocodile, but no one wants to say so publicly.'
Louise's grey eyes remained clear and steady. 'What is it, if not a crocodile?'
'A creature that no longer exists.' I waited for a moment, to see if God would bring the ceiling crashing down on me. Nothing happened, however, except for the waiter arriving to refill our cups.
'How can that be?'
'Do you know of the concept of extinction?'
'You mentioned it when you were reading Cuvier, but Margaret made you stop, for it upset her.'
I nodded. 'Cuvier has suggested that animal species sometimes die out when they are no longer suited to survive in the world. The idea is troubling to people because it suggests that God does not have a hand in it, that He created animals and then sat back and let them die. Then there are those like Lord Henley, who say the creature is an early model for a crocodile, that God made it and rejected it. Some think God used the Flood to rid the world of animals He didn't want. But these theories imply God could make mistakes and need to correct Himself. Do you see? All of these ideas upset someone.
Many people, like our Reverend Jones at St Michael's, find it easiest to accept the Bible literally and say God created the world and all its creatures in six days, and it is still exactly as it was then, with all of the animals still existing somewhere. And they find Bishop Ussher's calculation of the world's age as six thousand years comforting rather than limiting and a little absurd.' I picked up a langue de chat from the plate of biscuits between us and snapped it in two, thinking of my conversation with Reverend Jones.
'How does he explain Mary's creature, then?'
'He thinks they are swimming about off the coast of South America, and we haven't yet discovered them.'
'Could that be true?'
I shook my head. 'Sailors would have seen them. We have been sailing around the world for hundreds of years and never had a sighting of such a creature.'
'And so you believe that what we were looking at in Bullock's Museum is a fossilised body of an animal that no longer exists. It died out, for reasons that may or may not be God's intention.' Louise said this carefully, as if to make it crystal clear to herself and to me.
'Yes.'
Louise chuckled and took a biscuit. 'That would certainly surprise some members of the congregation at St Michael's. Reverend Jones might have to ask you to leave and join a Dissenting church!'
I finished the langue de chat. 'I don't know that Dissenters are any different, really. They may differ doctrinally from the Church of England, but the Dissenters I know in Lyme interpret the Bible just as literally as Reverend Jones does. They would never accept the idea of extinction.' I sighed. 'Mary's creature needs studying, by anatomists, like Cuvier in Paris, or geologists from Oxford or Cambridge. They might be able to provide persuasive answers. But that will never happen while it is masquerading as an exotic Dorset croc at Bullock's!'
'It could be worse, tucked away in Colway Manor,' Louise countered. 'At least here more people will see it. And if the right people--your learned geologists--see it and recognise its worth, they may think it worth studying.'
I had not thought of that. Louise was always more sensible than I. It was a relief to talk to her, and gave me a little comfort, but not enough to stem my fury at Lord Henley.
When we returned to Lyme the following month, I went to confront him, even before I saw Mary Anning. I did not announce my visit, nor tell my sisters where I was going, but strode across the fields between Morley Cottage and
