Chapter 34
‘Mrs Wildmore! This is a pleasure. Busy again, I see.’ Ian Parslow scanned his notes, then lifted his eyes to hers. Penetrating, green. They gave nothing away.
Alec had insisted Lisa consult Parslow again, go through that whole battery of tests once more.
‘We don’t want anything unforeseen this time.’ Alec had smiled at her.
‘But Parslow was the one who called it “a perfectly normal pregnancy”!’ Lisa was now sure he’d seen something unusual at that very first meeting.
‘He’ll be especially on his guard this time. He’s the top man, darling. Everyone we know uses him. We can’t do better.’
Lisa had agreed to the tests reluctantly. Parslow could misread the scan again, could mess up the test results. But he couldn’t really harm her. The baby would, in any case, be born in Scotland.
Would he even refer to the last time he’d seen her? Presumably there’d been some sort of feedback about the triplets. At the very least Gilmore would have let Parslow know with the letter of referral.
‘Here I am again, Mr Parslow. Alec and I are trying for a little girl.’
He bristled at once. ‘I can’t arrange that at this stage, I’m afraid.’ Thin lips drew back to show it was a joke. ‘At any rate, not in the present state of medical knowledge.’
He didn’t flaunt quite the dismissive manner of almost three years before. Instead of talking from afar, he walked right over to Lisa and shook her hand. He moved her to the couch and hooked up the ultrasound. ‘But maybe you can. I was absolutely astounded to hear about your triplets.’ He looked at Lisa, a long deep stare. ‘And such unusual circumstances. I gather the third one was born two weeks after the other two.’ There was no smile, no hint of an apology. ‘Quite remarkable.’
‘I did – ’
‘Word of your special powers has spread!’ His strong baritone drowned her attempt to speak. ‘Lady Carruthers particularly mentioned you when she consulted me the other day. Suggested that, as I’d been so brilliant with you, I might be able to arrange for her to have twins.’ He smiled. The cat that’d licked the clotted cream. ‘Told me not to overdo it, though. Apparently triplets would be too much for her.’
He hadn’t heard about Jiminy’s death from Gilmore, Lisa felt sure. And Diana wouldn’t have mentioned it to him, either.
‘I’m not expecting miracles,’ Lisa told him, a little coolly. ‘ I just thought you might be able to say whether this one’s a girl.’
Parslow scrutinised the monitor carefully. ‘I think that’s pretty clear. Your ultrasounds are always so distinct, my dear. A little girl it is.’
‘You’re sure?’
The green eyes looked cold. ‘It isn’t absolutely fool-proof at this stage; but I would say ninety-five percent certain.’
‘Could you just show me...’
‘Certainly.’ He took the blunt end of a pencil and traced out the relevant parts. ‘I think the simplest way to tell is by the absence of the male genitals.’
Why was this man’s behaviour to her so different from the Parslow she’d met before? His apparent regard for her made her quite nervous. Was it simply because she knew Diana? Was he really such a snob? ‘Do you foresee any problems?’
‘A perfectly normal pregnancy.’ Parslow turned from the scan and faced Lisa directly, that affable expression spreading over his face. ‘I do assure you, Mrs Wildmore, there is no reason for anxiety.’ Another sharp quick glance at the monitor. ‘None at all.’
That old spiel again. Had he seen the foetus within a foetus of her nightmare? Was she carrying another cloner?
‘I can’t see why you shouldn’t carry a beautiful baby to term.’ He looked at his notes again, then back at Lisa. ‘Of course I have given some thought to what happened last time. I simply couldn’t believe the letter from your GP.’
‘You may remember, I thought it would be twins.’
‘I do remember; we both got it wrong.’ His lips smiled but his eyes were darts. ‘Though you were nearer the mark.’
Lisa clenched her nails into her palms, crunched her teeth together.
‘There really is only one explanation,’ Parslow continued, voice loud and overriding. ‘The two others must have been lying directly behind the first one, right on top of one another.’ Another attempt at a smile. ‘An extraordinary fluke. I do remember being surprised at how clear the image was - much denser than normal. I’d no idea I was seeing it in triplicate!’
‘That’s really what you think happened?’
The darts turned into daggers. ‘Absolutely. There’s no other way to explain it.’ He stared intently at the monitor, then looked at Lisa again. ‘But this time we’ll make doubly sure. If you’ll bear with us, we’ll do another ultrasound in a month or so. The foetus will have moved position. No question of the same thing happening again.’ He wrote something on his notepad. ‘We’ll do our best not to waste your time. Take samples now for all the other tests, and repeat those, as well. Can’t be too careful, can we?’
Why did that sound like a threat? ‘Not the amniocentesis,’ Lisa said quickly, assertive, positive.
‘No, certainly not that, my dear. I do agree.’ Almost on the defensive. ‘By that time it wouldn’t be useful, in any case. The results would be too late for possible termination.’ He smiled. ‘I’ll send the results to your GP as soon as the lab returns them.’
‘I mean I don’t want the amniocentesis at all.’
‘Is that wise? You are, after all, in your late thirties.’
‘That’s for me and my husband to decide. There is one other point, Mr Parslow.’
‘Yes?’
‘I did feel you saw something - unusual - last time. I was quite sure of it. Not medically unsound, of course. Just...’
The eyes had veiled; he tried to smile, but merely twisted his mouth. ‘There’s nothing in the notes, Mrs Wildmore. As I remember it there was no problem whatsoever.’
‘Not a problem. I just thought you might have seen something out of the ordinary – ’
‘Nothing at all.’
Lisa wondered just how he could maintain that in the face of what had developed, but decided there was no more to be gained by prodding him. He’d simply put her down again. ‘I rather hope it’s only one, this time.’
Parslow, evidently relieved, actually grinned at her. ‘Well, I’m certainly not making any rash predictions,’ he said. ‘But there’s a sporting chance.’ There was a pause as he walked towards the window, his back to her. ‘What are you taking now? Any medication at all?’
‘I don’t believe in drugs, particularly when I’m pregnant.’ She felt composed, assured. ‘I don’t smoke. And I won’t bother with alcohol for the next few months. Just wholesome food, grown without any artificial stimulants.’
‘Very commendable, if you can find it.’
‘I’ve taken up vegetable gardening.’
‘Not too much of the heavy work, remember.’
‘If I feel overdone, I drink herb tea, made from dried roots or leaves. Grown on a local farm.’
‘Indeed. Herb tea?’ Parslow’s quick eyes showed interest. ‘What sort of herbs?’
‘Lady’s mantle is my favourite at the moment,’ Lisa told him. ‘Just the leaves. Very important during pregnancy.’
‘Anything else?’
‘Dandelion if I need a diuretic.’
He was watching her attentively. ‘An interesting idea.’
She paused, wondering whether to let him know, then decided she might as well get his opinion. ‘And valerian root tea if I’m overwrought. No chemicals of any sort, you see.’
The doctor rubbed a smooth, strong chin. ‘It isn’t quite as simple as that, you know.’ A chair was placed beside her. ‘I really think I must warn you against relying too much on folklore.’
‘You don’t approve?’
‘I think you’re playing with unknowns here. It’s fashionable to think that plants are “natural” and can’t do you any harm. We know that’s wrong, of course. Some are known killers - hemlock, for instance, and belladonna. The green nightshade berries can be deadly, they contain powerful poisons - scopolamine, hyoscyamine and atropine, among others. I’m afraid natural isn’t equivalent to safe.’
‘I know that, Mr Parslow.’
‘All matter is made up of chemicals; we can’t escape that. A number of the well-known drugs we use are synthesised from plants. But for every discovery of useful drugs from such sources, like aspirin or digitalis, we need to sift hundreds of plants or other organisms to find another safe one.’
‘But – ’
‘I really don’t want to preach, but it is important for you to bear some facts in mind. Natural plants contain any number of chemicals. They’re in the tissues and juices of the plants. What bothers me is not the beneficial ingredients in some of the herbs - I don’t deny there are pharmacologically active ones - what bothers me is that the dosage is uncontrolled.’
‘You mean I don’t know how much I’m taking?’
‘Exactly. Neither how much, nor how little, or exactly what. On the other hand, if the desired ingredient is isolated, purified in the laboratory, it can be administered in properly calculated doses. That’s what we do with modern drugs.’
‘But the new drugs are much more powerful, and the drug companies make enormous profits.’
‘There has to be a financial benefit, the research has to be funded.’ The green had turned to a dark emerald. ‘It would be much wiser if you stuck to proven vitamins and minerals. For what it’s worth, that’s what I’d recommend.’
‘So you think what I’m doing is dangerous?’
‘Mostly I’d think it was harmless. The valerian needs to be taken in strict moderation. I’m sure you already know that.’
‘Yes,’ Lisa said softly. ‘I do.’
‘I’d certainly prefer to prescribe a mild sedative.’
‘Like thalidomide, you mean?’
‘Below the belt, Mrs Wildmore. Tests are far more stringent now. Mine certainly are.’ He looked at her, his pupils pinpoints of power. ‘I expect you’ve heard from Lady Carruthers.’
‘Diana is expecting twins?’ Lisa asked, an image of the split in her womb surfacing.
‘I would never discuss a patient,’ Parslow said severely. He smiled; a genuine, warm smile. ‘What I thought she might have told you is that Flaxton have just made a substantial grant available to me. They are funding my team of embryologists. We’re observing the effects of particular chemical signals on DNA.’
DNA - Dinnay! She saw the pebbles Janus had written in the sand at Brean - that was why he’d shown her the coloured screens from Alec’s disks, that’s what they symbolised. The DNA of a particular person - he’d found the description of his DNA.
‘Mrs Wildmore? Are you all right?’
Lisa pulled herself together. ‘Of course, Mr Parslow. I was just taking in what you were saying.’
Flaxton were funding Ian Parslow’s research? She felt trapped, hemmed in. Had they obtained a sample of Janus’s tissue, tested his DNA and found that he was a cloner? Where they now using Parslow to get samples from her new foetus? Perhaps he’d worked out a way to obtain the cells he needed in spite of her refusal to have the amniocentesis. Was that why he was asking her to come back for a second set of tests? She would, of course, refuse.
‘That’s Flaxton’s special field,’ the doctor continued, unaware of her thoughts. ‘These are exciting times.’