Chapter Text
7:30pm – Sulivan
“Lieutenant Sulivan! Over here, Sulivan! Who are your new friends?”
“Good evening, Doctor,” said BJ. “May I introduce you to the Señorita Isabela… Rubio de…?”
“Rubio de Guevarra,” supplied the young lady, curtseying modestly. “And this is my sister, Antonia Rubio de Guevarra.”
“Of course,” said BJ sheepishly. “Forgive me, ladies.”
Antonia giggled. “No, but it is these terribly long names! You have such simple names in England, I believe.”
“It certainly seems so to me,” said BJ, smiling. “And this is Doctor Bynoe, the surgeon on board His Majesty’s Ship Beagle.”
“But Sulivan has a middle name, isn’t that right?” said Bynoe.
“What is your… personal name, Lieutenant?” asked Isabela.
“Bartholomew James,” he said.
Isabela blinked slowly at him, her eyes alive with subtle mirth. “I cannot say that,” she said, too solemnly to be believed.
“Oh, yes you can,” said BJ.
“I cannot, and you can not make me,” she replied, as a delightful smile burst through her mock solemnity.
“Why, miss,” he leaned towards her, with a thrill in his heart and a conspiratorial grin, “is that a challe–“
“Sulivan.”
“Oh, for goodness’ sake, Bynoe, I am being perfectly –“
“No, no,” said Bynoe, in an urgent, hushed voice. “What’s wrong with Darwin?”
BJ looked up. The philosopher stood alone in the centre of the room, holding the back of his head, looking devastated and red in the face. BJ and Bynoe made eye contact in an unspoken exchange: What do we do? What do we do?
“Darwin! I say, philosopher!” BJ called out, holding up a hand. Darwin shook his head mutely.
“Pardon me,” said Bynoe, and strode over to where Darwin stood. BJ watched Bynoe lay a hand on Darwin’s upper arm, and two of them exchanged words, just out of earshot. Good old Bynoe – unbound by English sensibilities, he had a miraculous Caribbean ability to actually touch his friends. BJ suspected the calming effect of this behaviour played no small role in Bynoe’s success as a surgeon. But it wasn’t working this time. He watched Darwin shake his head again, with arms drawn close to his chest, then abruptly quit Bynoe’s company and then the room itself in an urgent, ungainly lope.
Bynoe returned a moment later. “He claims to be too drunk to stay.”
“You don’t believe him?”
Bynoe shook his head subtly, then deliberately wiped the corner of his eye.
“Oh –“ said BJ. “Was he –“
Bynoe nodded. The two men stood shoulder to shoulder, regarding the door through which Darwin had made his exit. Then –
“Ladies!” said BJ, feeling rather awkward. “You must forgive us, our friend appeared unwell.”
“Yes, rest assured, you have our undivided attention once more,” Bynoe added.
The Rubio de Guevarra girls, to their credit, both looked sincerely concerned.
“Who was that?” asked Antonia.
“That was Mr Darwin, the natural philosopher,” said Bynoe.
Antonia furrowed her brow, and nudged her sister – upon which the pair exchanged a flurry of Spanish too rapid for BJ to follow.
Isabela cleared her throat. “She says – well, we both wonder – does ‘Mr’ mean he is not enlisted in your Navy?”
BJ was impressed. “You are very astute – it does indeed. Mr Darwin is a civilian.”
“Then what is he doing on your ship?”
BJ and Bynoe exchanged another silent look – a mutual acknowledgement that yes, this was somewhat difficult to explain.
“Well, Captain FitzRoy –“
“– cares deeply about the education of the English people,” finished Bynoe, widening his eyes pointedly at BJ. “And so he has entrusted the collection of scientific specimens to a highly educated man, so that the English can learn more about your beautiful country.”
“Where is the Captain?” asked Antonia. “I should like to meet such a man.”
Where was Robert? “I haven’t seen him in a little while,” said BJ. “I’ll introduce you if I see him. His uniform is rather similar to mine, only finer, so in the meantime I shall have to suffice.”
Isabela smiled again. “Lieutenant, you are more than sufficient,” she said.
Yes, she really was doing it on purpose. The thought filled BJ with such joy that all worries about Mr Darwin and Robert were momentarily forgotten.