'You thought the last specimen was fine?' Mr Bullock cried, holding up another pentacrinite. 'Well, then, have a look at this beauty. See? Not a crack or chip anywhere, the form in all its mysterious perfection. Who can resist its feminine charms? Not I, ladies and gentlemen, not I. Indeed, I am going to do something highly unusual and start the bidding myself, at two guineas. For what is two guineas if I can give my wife and myself such a fine example of the beauty of nature? Will anyone deprive me of my beauty? What? You will, sir? How dare you! It will have to be for two pounds ten shillings, sir. It is? And yours is three pounds, sir? So be it. I cannot compete for such beauty as these gentlemen can. I can only hope my wife forgives me. At least we know it is for a worthy cause. Let us not forget why we are here.'
His auctioning approach was irregular--I was used to the smoother, quieter, understated tone of the auctioneers who came to sell the contents of Lyme houses. But then, they were auctioning off china plates and mahogany side tables, not the bones of ancient animals. Perhaps a different tone was necessary. And his style worked. Mr Bullock sold every pentacrinite, every shark's tooth, every ammonite, for more than I expected. Indeed, bidders were surprisingly generous, especially when ichthyosaurus parts began to be sold--jaws, snouts, vertebrae. It was then that men I knew joined the bidding. Reverend Conybeare bought four large fused vertebrae. Charles Konig bought a jaw for the British Museum. William Buckland fulfilled his mission and bought part of an ichthyosaurus skull for Baron Cuvier's collection at the Natural History Museum in Paris, as well as a femur. And the prices were quite high--two guineas, five guineas, ten pounds.
Twice more Mr Bullock drew attention to the worthiness of the auction, making me shift in my seat. To call Colonel Birch's pocket a worthy cause infuriated me, and the high regard in which he was held made me want to flee. However, standing up and pushing through the wall of men behind would have brought more attention than I could withstand, and it had taken so much effort to get here that I remained seated, and fumed.
'Quite remarkable what Colonel Birch has done,' the man next to me whispered when there was a pause in the proceedings.
I nodded. Though I did not share his admiration, I did not want to argue with a stranger over Colonel Birch's character.
'So generous of him,' the man continued.
'What do you mean, sir?' I asked, but my words were lost as Mr Bullock bellowed like a circus ringmaster, 'And now, the finest and most unusual specimen in all of Colonel Birch's collection. A most mysterious animal has arrived at Bullock's. Indeed, its brother graced Bullock's Museum for several years to an enormous admiring audience.
Then we called it a crocodile, but some of the finest British minds have studied it carefully and confirmed it is a different animal, not yet found in the world. You have already seen parts of it sold today--vertebrae, ribs, jaws, skulls. Now you will see how all of those parts fit together, in one complete, perfect, glorious specimen. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you: the Birch ichthyosaurus!'
The crowd rose to its feet as the mounted specimen was carried in. Even I stood and craned my neck to look, though I had already thoroughly studied it in the Anning workshop. Such was the power of Mr Bullock's flagrant, effective showmanship. It was not just me. William Buckland craned his neck too, as did Charles Konig and Henry De La Beche and Reverend Conybeare. We were all drawn in by the spell the beast cast.
It did look very fine. As with the other specimens sold, the artificial London setting, in a brightly painted, finely furnished room so different from Lyme's raw sea air and natural rough tones, made the ichthyosaurus look even odder and more out of place, as if from another world altogether--older and harsher and more alien. It was difficult to imagine such a creature ever having lived in the world of people, or taking a place in Aristotle's Great Chain of Being.
Bidding was brisk, and resulted in the Royal College of Surgeons buying it for one hundred pounds. Mary would be pleased, I thought, if she weren't more likely to be furious at being robbed of such a fee.
The ichthyosaurus was the final lot of the sale. I had been missing from Montague Street for an hour and a half; if I got a cab quickly I might yet manage to get back to my bedroom without anyone noticing my absence. I stood, preparing to slip out so that the men I knew in the room wouldn't see me. It was at that moment, however, that Colonel Birch chose also to detach himself from the front row. He moved to the lectern and called out over the hubbub, 'Gentlemen! Gentlemen--and ladies,' for he had spied me. I froze.
'I am overwhelmed by your interest and by your generosity. As I announced earlier,' he continued, his eyes reaching out and pinning me to my place so that I would at last listen to what he had to say, 'I have auctioned off my collection to raise money for a very worthy Lyme family--the Annings.'
I shied like a nervous horse, but managed not to gasp.
'You have kindly responded in a most generous fashion.' Colonel Birch kept his eyes on my face, as if to calm me. 'What I did not tell you before, ladies and gentlemen, is that it was the daughter of this family--Mary Anning--who discovered the majority of the specimens that make up my collection, including the fine ichthyosaurus just sold. She is--' he paused '--possibly the most remarkable young woman I have had the privilege to meet in the fossil world. She has helped me, and she may well help you in future. When you admire the specimens you have bought today, remember it was she who found them.
Thank you.'
As a wave of murmurs swept the room, Colonel Birch nodded at me, then stepped aside and was engulfed by a mob of coats and top hats. I began to push my way towards the exit. All about me men were looking me over--not as they had done on the street, but with a more cerebral curiosity. 'Pardon me, are you Miss Anning?' asked one.
'Oh no, no.' I shook my head vigorously. 'I'm not.' He looked disappointed, and I felt a thread of anger tug at me. 'I am Elizabeth Philpot,' I declared, 'and I collect fossil fish.'
