The footsteps, much to William's disappointment, were not his daughter Sophia's. Instead, Augusta walked into the room. She was rocking little Horace in her arms as the young baby cooed.

"Is this the general practitioner, William?" she asked her former brother-in-law as she entered, looking Dr. Gramheist over. The doctor, for his part, froze like a deer in headlights, though as it was the year 1909 the analogy was not the most relevant for the time period to use.

"No, this is Dr. Gramheist," William answered,"He's here for Sophia."

Augusta blinked. "Why is he here now? Where's the general practitioner? Shouldn't Minnie's condition be addressed first?"

"Oh, why, madam," Dr. Gramheist exclaimed, holding up the brace in his hand, "that is what I intend to do in place of the missing physician."

William swallowed hard. He did not want that device anywhere near his wife's head, though he did not know how to dissuade Dr. Gramheist without seeming like he did not care about his wife's well-being. Incidentally, Augusta must have picked up on some of his anxiety as she gave the brace a dirty look.

"The poor woman ran into a rock," she remarked in a dry manner, "she's already in enough pain, the last thing she needs is a lobotomy. Your daily work may involve heads and brains but I'm not sure it's your place to do anything, particularly with that tool."

Dr. Gramheist, slightly inflated by Augusta's lack of enthusiasm, lowered the brace. "Well, madam, perhaps it is still a bit early for such extreme measures. I will hold off on the draining, unless, of course, Mr. Dilly, you would like me to continue..."

"Oh, no, thank you, Dr. Gramheist," William replied, trying to seem calm and casual, "I have sent my butler, Jerome, to inquire about the status of Dr. Fossey who will be handling my wife's situation. But I do appreciate your offer to help."

"I'm sorry," Dr. Gramheist continued, his eyes remaining on Augusta, "I did not properly introduce myself. I am Dr. Vesuvius Gramheist, a psychologist-"

"-Yes, I've heard of you," Augusta cut him off as she rocked Horace some more, "Your name appears in the paper quite often."

"Oh! So marvelous! You know of my impressive background! I am a well-established doctor with many important clients."

"I know what makes the paper, yes," Augusta remained unimpressed, "I can't say I agree with the publicity your doctor visits bring."

"Well, now, Augusta," William said, "if it weren't for some of that publicity I would not have known his name and how he can help us with our current predicament."

"Yes, yes," the doctor nodded, "the publicity is to get my name out there so that my services can help others. I assure you, I agree with your dislike of publicity for such private matters as mental health."

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"Do you, Dr. Gramheist?" Augusta did not sound convinced.

"Please, madam, no need for such formality. You can call me Vesuvius. Or rather, you are welcome to call me Suvy, as my dear friends do."

"Are we dear friends now?" Augusta remained dry in her communication.

"Well..I..." the doctor paused a moment. "I would certainly hope we can become dear friends. You seem a highly intelligent woman, and quite beautiful as well."

"Doctor, you are here to treat my niece," replied Augusta, "our relationship is purely professional."

"Oh! So you are Sophia's aunt!" The doctor set the brace back into his bag and clapped his hands together. "Well, I shall have to interview you about your niece- well, interview everyone, of course," he looked over to William and back to Augusta, "-to get a sense of the big picture. Your son, by the way, is quite a darling baby."

"This isn't my son," Augusta answered, "This is the child of the poor woman who lays before you. My son is a full-grown adult."

"It's my son," William added, and walked over to Augusta to take him. "Here, let daddy hold him a bit."

"What? Well, my mistake, madam," Dr. Gramheist smiled, "you look so youthful, I suppose I just assumed."

Despite her best efforts, the comment did make Augusta slightly blush. "Well, no, he's William's son," she replied. "I was just checking in on the child while his mother was in her current state. We can't let him be neglected."

"How very caring of you, Miss...Mrs...Ms..." the doctor was throwing titles out in hopes one would catch.

"Ms. Augusta Lowe Dally Connors McClaire," August replied, answering with all the last names her previous marriages had brought.

"My, you have quite the lovely name too."

Augusta turned to William, trying to distance herself from Dr. Gramheist. "William, would you like me to get Sophia, as Dr. Gramheist is here? I am not sure she's going to want to leave her room, though..."

"Well, Dr. Gramheist has just arrived," William remarked, "I am sure he will have plenty of time yet to meet with Sophia."

"Yes," the doctor cut in, "your butler made it sound like you would like me to come and stay for a bit on the island. Maybe to observe Sophia for a few days in the environment, get a sense of where this notion of 'sealmen' may have come from, and so on."

"The sealman..." Minnie muttered from her place on the sofa.

"Oh, you'll...you'll be staying with us, doctor?" Augusta seemed uncertain in her tone whether she thought that would be a good or bad idea.

"Yes, I look forward to getting to know all of you," the doctor, once agian, had Augusta in his sights.

"To help Sophia."

"Yes, of course, to help Sophia."

"And then I suppose you'll go tell the papers about your time here..." Augusta said, crossing her arms.

"Oh, not at all, I will do my best to stay mum," Gramheist replied, "as I said, I respect the privacy of my clients. Now, the issue in the city is the press is all around and if I'm caught leaving someone's private residence, well, I have to explain my reasons for being there. But out here on an isolated island? I can't imagine there will be anyone from the press around to snoop. And likewise, as I told Mr. Dilly, I was already in Portland for a holiday. No one expects me to be doing anything but resting. They will be completely unaware I was ever involved with your family!"

He sounded very convincing to Augusta, though as an experienced woman, she also knew words were merely words.

"Well," she replied, "I certainly hope that is the case. And I certainly hope you can get to the bottom of the 'sealman' fixation poor Sophia has developed."

Dr. Gramheist nodded at the woman, as it suddenly full of passion. "Madam, I swear to you, I will do all I can to help your niece. By the time I am finished with her, she won't believe seals or men exist."

Augusta stared back blankly.

"Well, alright," the doctor shrugged, "I guess that came out wrong. She'll believe they still exist, just not in combination."

Augusta sighed. That was much better.