Agatha Fox's Forgotten Secret
Lady Agatha Fox had always presented herself as a woman above gossip, above rumor, above anything "low-born."
But that was a lie.
There were some secrets even a Governor's wife could not bury.
And the Doctor was one of them.
THE MEMORY SHE NEVER SHARED
It happened months earlier, long before Belle began her morning shifts at the hospital.
Agatha's young cousin, Lila Harrow, had arrived from Sydney:
• pale as milk
• sweating through her linen
• coughing blood
The family physician had shaken his head.
"Her lungs are failing. Nothing more can be done."
Agatha had refused to accept that.
She had heard whispers—
from the servants, from the dockside women, from a smuggler's wife she once helped—
There is a surgeon who works in the shadows. A doctor who saves the dying, no matter their status… for a price.
Agatha hated herself for even considering it,
but Lila was like a daughter to her.
So one night, cloaked in a dark shawl,
she took Belle with her
and followed directions scribbled on a torn scrap of parchment.
BELLE'S FIRST BRUSH WITH THE UNKNOWN
They arrived at a forgotten warehouse behind the port.
Belle had been anxious, whispering:
"Mother… who are we meeting? Why at this hour?"
Agatha squeezed her hand.
"A man who can do what the hospital physicians cannot."
Belle had frowned, frightened and curious all at once.
Inside, the masked doctor worked in silence.
No name.
No introduction.
No hesitation.
But Belle never forgot:
• the straight-backed posture
• the steady hands
• the surgical confidence
• the strange, clean tools he carried — tools she had never seen in any medical book of their time
Within an hour, Lila's life had been pulled back from the edge.
The Doctor never asked for money.
He only said:
"Keep her warm for three days. She will live."
And she did.
Agatha told NO ONE — not even Edmund.
She forced Belle to swear it would be forgotten.
Belle agreed…
But secretly, she remembered everything.
THE CONSEQUENCE IN THE PRESENT
Now, months later, Agatha watches Belle with new eyes:
• returning home late
• practicing strange movements
• reading endlessly
• distracted at dinner
• glowing with an excitement she can't hide
Agatha begins to suspect the truth.
Belle has found him again.
And this time, Agatha feels something she never expected:
Fear.
Not of the Doctor…
…but of what Belle might become under his influence.
Agatha's Next Move
Agatha decides to speak with her husband, Governor Fox.
But not to confess.
No.
Instead, she plans to control the situation herself — before Edmund's investigation puts Belle in danger.
She whispers to herself:
"If my daughter is entangled with the Doctor…
I will find out.
And I will decide what happens next."
Agatha Fox Confronts the Doctor
Agatha Follows Belle
Agatha Fox moved silently through the narrow streets, her shawl drawn tight.
Belle had left the house again at four in the afternoon, carrying her satchel and wearing that determined expression Agatha recognized too well.
"Where are you going, Belle…? And who has captured your mind so completely?"
She followed her daughter:
• past the bakeries,
• past the busy port,
• past the hospital gates—
To a part of town Agatha had not walked in years.
Belle slipped between two warehouses and disappeared into a door that looked like it belonged to an abandoned workshop.
Agatha's breath caught.
This is the same district where I met him once… the Doctor.
Her heart pounded.
She waited two minutes.
Then she entered.
Agatha Sees the Hidden Clinic
Agatha stepped into a brightly lit room full of equipment she could not understand.
Metal instruments finer than any she'd seen.
Glass tubes arranged with precision.
A smell of alcohol — impossibly clean.
Belle stood beside a man wearing the same style of mask Agatha remembered.
Her stomach twisted.
"You," she whispered. "It is you. The Doctor."
The Doctor remained silent, standing tall, posture calm.
Belle moved between them defensively.
"Mother—why are you here?!"
Agatha ignored Belle and glared at the masked man.
The Confrontation
"What have you done to my daughter?" Agatha demanded.
"Why is she spending her days training with a dangerous man like you?"
The Doctor tilted his head slightly.
Belle stepped forward before he could speak.
"Mother, stop. He isn't dangerous to me. He saved countless people. He saved cousin Lila — you remember that."
Agatha's jaw tightened.
"That was different," she said. "She was dying."
"And how many others are dying now?" Belle shot back.
"How many could be saved if men like Father allowed modern medicine to exist in this colony?"
Agatha inhaled sharply.
"Belle… you are playing with fire."
Belle didn't back down.
Belle's Challenge
Belle opened her satchel and placed a book in front of her mother.
A detailed human anatomy text — far beyond anything in the colony.
"Look at this," Belle said firmly.
"This is what the Doctor studies. This is the smallest piece of the knowledge he possesses."
Agatha hesitated.
Belle flipped the book open, turning the pages:
• accurate drawings
• advanced surgical notes
• diagrams of organs and systems unknown to their century
"Mother," Belle pressed,
"tell me — do you know anyone in the entire colony who understands this? Any surgeon? Any physician? Anyone at all?"
Agatha swallowed.
"No," she admitted quietly.
Belle stepped closer.
"This is why I'm training with him. He is a genius. A visionary. Someone who can save this colony… if people like Father don't ruin everything first."
Agatha froze.
"Belle… what are you implying about your father?"
"Nothing," Belle said, voice steady.
"But I am telling you the truth:
The doctor is not the threat. The corruption in this colony is."
The Doctor Speaks
Finally the Doctor (Jack) spoke—calm, deep, controlled.
"Lady Fox," he said, "you may take the book home. Study it. Decide for yourself."
Agatha blinked.
"You… will let me?"
"Knowledge," he said, "is only dangerous in the wrong hands. You must decide whose hands yours are."
Agatha felt a shiver run down her spine.
Belle looked between them.
"Take it, Mother. Think about everything. Then come back with your answer."
Agatha slowly took the book.
Her voice was barely a whisper:
"I… will return."
Agatha Reads the Book
Agatha Fox locked her bedroom door, drew the curtains shut, and sat beneath the oil lamp with the anatomy book the Doctor had given her.
At first she expected nonsense.
Boastful diagrams.
False promises.
Instead…
Her breath grew shallow.
The drawings were precise—clean lines showing every muscle, vein, and organ with a detail no colonial surgeon had ever come close to.
The handwritten notes beside them were worse.
Ligation method — prevents sepsis entirely.
Rapid blood loss countermeasures.
Proper amputation angles to reduce phantom pain.
Agatha, who had grown up around doctors and governors, knew enough to understand:
This knowledge did not belong to this century.
She flipped to another page.
Internal organ repair procedure — success rate 78% if done within 15 minutes.
Agatha covered her mouth with a shaking hand.
"This… this is impossible."
She read until her eyes ached:
• methods for anesthesia far beyond chloroform
• sterile technique that could have prevented dozens of deaths in the hospital
• surgical diagrams that looked like something from a future dream
By the final page, Agatha's hands trembled.
"If this man… this Doctor… truly possesses all this…"
She closed the book and pressed it to her chest, eyes tight.
"…then he is the greatest mind the Empire has ever seen."
Or—
She thought uneasily.
—the most dangerous, if the wrong people learn what he can do.
Agatha suddenly realized Belle was not reckless.
She was right.
The colony, the military, even Governor Fox himself—
none of them were prepared for knowledge like this.
They would weaponize it.
Use it to control.
To dominate.
And the Doctor knew that.
He was protecting it.
Agatha's expression hardened.
"I must protect him too… even from my own husband."
Agatha Returns to the Clinic — and Makes Her Decision
Two days later, Agatha returned to the hidden clinic wearing a simple cloak, hood pulled low.
She knocked once.
The door opened silently.
Belle was there, startled.
"Mother? You actually came back?"
Agatha stepped in, eyes sharp with newfound purpose.
"I read the book, Belle. All of it."
Jack—the Doctor—emerged from behind a curtain, masked as always.
"Lady Fox," he said evenly.
"Your decision?"
Agatha took a long breath.
"I have lived in this colony a long time," she said.
"I have seen men abuse power, twist knowledge, and destroy lives. My own husband is no exception."
Belle stiffened.
Jack remained perfectly still.
Agatha met his gaze, resolute.
"If the Governor discovers who you are, he will claim your genius as property of the Crown."
She stepped closer, lowering her voice.
"So I will protect you."
Belle let out a soft gasp.
Jack's mask shifted slightly—his version of surprise.
"Why?" he asked.
Agatha answered without hesitation.
"Because I am not blind. Because my daughter believes in you. And because the knowledge you hold could save thousands… but only if kept out of the hands of tyrants."
She placed the anatomy book on the table.
"I will guard your identity.
I will shield Belle's involvement.
And I will keep the Governor out of this."
She straightened.
"But you must promise me something in return."
Jack's voice was low.
"Name it."
Agatha's eyes gleamed with determination.
"When this colony begins to change—and it will—make sure my daughter stands at your side. As your student. As your partner in medicine. She has earned it."
Belle's breath caught.
Her eyes glistened.
Jack looked between the two women—the noble mother and the defiant daughter.
Then he nodded once.
"Agreed."
Agatha exhaled, tension melting from her shoulders.
"Good," she murmured. "Then let us begin."