He Opened A Matchmaking Agency In 18Th Century London [EN]: Chapter 47

47. Crispin’s Story

At Theo’s request to hear more about Crispin’s childhood, the Countess began to speak.

“We have two sons and three daughters. However, Daniel, who was the eldest son of the family, was very weak from birth. His gait was strange from the time he started to walk.”

He was the first son they had waited for, but he had a weak body, a limp, and frequent illnesses for no apparent reason.

Two years later, their second son, Crispin, was born, followed by three daughters a few years apart.

Fortunately, the rest of the children all grew up healthy.

The Count and Countess tried everything to treat their eldest son, Daniel, who was their greatest concern.

They visited every doctor they could find, and if there was a skilled apothecary, they would travel any distance and spare no expense.

(In those days, apothecaries also diagnosed and prescribed medicine, much like doctors. It wasn’t until after 1815 in the 19th century that apothecaries in England were licensed separately from doctors.)

Whether the Count and Countess’s efforts paid off or not, Daniel persevered well into his mid-20s, contrary to the doctor’s prediction that he would not live past ten.

The kind-hearted eldest son was always sorry and grateful to the Count and Countess for their efforts on his behalf.

Perhaps that’s why he followed the arduous treatment process without complaint and took the bitter medicine without hesitation.

The Countess, with tears welling up in her eyes, continued, sobbing.

“Our angelic Daniel passed away three years ago. It started as a small cold, but suddenly his fever became severe… He drifted in and out of consciousness… and closed his eyes forever…” She sobbed again, overcome with grief.

In this era without proper medicine, doctors, or treatments, the death of a child was very common, regardless of social class.

However, the tragic death of a child was just as devastating for parents in the 18th century as it is today.

Theo asked,

“Were Crispin and Daniel close when they were young?”

“Yes. Crispin, who looked just like Daniel, got along really well with his brother, like a friend. They took good care of each other.

One day, when they first visited their maternal relatives, the neighborhood children teased his limping brother, and Crispin, who was only six years old, screamed and lunged at them so fiercely… After that, the neighborhood children didn’t dare to tease or bother him.”

The Countess smiled faintly, recalling that incident.

“But whenever Daniel went for treatment, Crispin would lie on the floor, cry, and throw tantrums all day long. He was too young to understand that his brother was going for such arduous treatment. He just thought his father and brother were leaving him at home to get a simple check-up and have fun in the city.”

When his brother Daniel was out for treatment, Crispin would sit by the window and wait endlessly.

“Later, that spot became like Crispin’s designated seat, where he would read books and play while waiting for his brother. He would even eat his meals sitting by the window, and when he saw the carriage coming, he would run barefoot to the garden, jumping for joy.”

Daniel, feeling sorry for his younger brother, would always play with him for hours after finishing his treatment.

“How tired Daniel must have been after traveling such a long distance for his difficult treatment! We knew we should let him rest, but we couldn’t stop them. The laughter of the two happy brothers sounded so beautiful.”

However, around the time Daniel turned nine, his health deteriorated rapidly.

The Count and Countess, on the strong recommendation of the doctor, decided to go to France for Daniel’s treatment and recuperation.

At that time, British people often went to the European continent across the sea to take care of their health, escaping the island’s unique humid climate, lack of sunlight, and poor air quality.

However, the planned six-month stay in France became longer than expected, and it was not until four years later, when he was almost 13, that Daniel was able to return to England.

“On the morning of the day we left for France, we couldn’t bring ourselves to tell Crispin, who was only seven years old, that his brother would be away for half a year. He would have clung to the carriage so tightly that it wouldn’t have been able to move.”

“…Yes. He would have.”

“So, we told him that his brother was going far away to fix his leg and that it would take a few days longer than usual. We really had no idea at the time that Daniel would not return home for four years.”

Theo interrupted and asked.

“Countess, just a moment. Can you tell me as much detail as you can remember about Crispin and Daniel’s last moments together, just before your elder son left for France?”

“Their last moments?”

“Yes. I want to know Crispin’s actions and feelings at that last moment.”

The Countess tried her best to recall that memory.

“Ah… yes. So, we told Crispin that morning, just before they left, that his brother had to go away for treatment for longer than usual. Crispin whimpered, asking how many nights he had to sleep before his brother would come back. We had no choice but to tell him that he would be back soon after a few nights.”

“Did they say goodbye to each other?”

“Yes. We took the crying Crispin to his brother and forced him to say goodbye. Crispin approached his brother hesitantly with a very gloomy face and whispered something in his ear. He probably asked for a gift he wanted and made sure to promise him several times that he would come back soon and play with it together. Daniel, who was mature for his age, soothed his brother, saying that he would buy the gift his brother asked for and come back soon.”

The brother who left that way did not return after a few days, a few months, or even a few years.

The window seat, which had been Crispin’s designated spot for nearly a year, had been empty since one year later.

And after three more springs and winters had passed, Daniel was finally able to return home with his parents.

“We had gone for treatment because we were told that he would only live to be about 10 years old, but it took much longer than planned. But whether it was effective or not, Daniel’s condition was much better than before, so we were very happy.

But four years had passed while he was receiving treatment. I sometimes came home to see the children, but Daniel, who couldn’t, always missed his siblings. He especially wanted to see Crispin.”

The Countess’s voice was endlessly subdued. She missed her eldest son, who had gone to heaven.

“The day before returning home from France after four years, Daniel was very excited. He spent the whole day going around the city’s shops, excitedly picking out gifts for Crispin and his younger sisters.

In particular, he packed a few more gifts for Crispin. While buying the gift that Crispin had whispered in his ear four years ago, he worried that it might be too childish now, so he bought two more gifts after much deliberation.”

Daniel, who returned home after several years, received a warm welcome from all the family members.

However, Crispin, who seemed to have entered puberty, was an exception.

The former smile that he had given his brother, his excited voice, and his playful gestures could not be found.

“He didn’t say anything even after seeing his brother after four years. Everyone was surprised by his cold eyes. We thought that now that he was a little older and had reached an age where he could understand, we could tell him the situation, and they would become good friends again like before… but it was no use. He just avoided his brother.”

Daniel wanted to talk to his only younger brother, Crispin, and spend time with him.

However, he felt very bitter seeing Crispin only avoiding him. He seemed to think that his brother was now ashamed of him.

After that, the two barely spoke until the day Daniel died.

Crispin, who had grown up a lot after the age of 12, was full of new fun and energy from his life at the prestigious Eton School, and Daniel, looking at his younger brother, felt more distant than before and was very sad.

Just as his younger brother Crispin had waited for Daniel when he went for treatment in his childhood, now the older brother looked forward to the day his younger brother came home.

However, on the days when Crispin came home, they barely talked to each other in an awkward manner.

Tears welled up in the Countess’s eyes again.

“One day, Crispin, who had come home from the dormitory after a long time, ignored his brother’s greeting and went straight into his room. When I couldn’t stand it and tried to scold Crispin, Daniel stopped me. He said that he would feel uncomfortable if I scolded his brother, and he smiled bitterly. Daniel’s lonely eyes that day… I still can’t forget them.”

The two brothers lived in that strained relationship for the next ten years.

“On the day Daniel died three years ago, Crispin was with his friends at a ball held in another region.

Before Daniel, who was in very poor condition due to a cold, lost consciousness due to a high fever, he suddenly asked us pleadingly if we could bring his brother.

At that moment, my heart sank. It was the first time Daniel had asked me directly if he wanted to see Crispin and asked me to bring him. I guess he knew he was going to die.”

Crispin, who was having a good time dancing at the ball, seemed to have noticed that the situation was unusual when he saw the butler who had come to find him.

The Earl of Maxwell had instructed the butler to forcibly drag Crispin along if he refused to come, but unexpectedly, Crispin immediately got on his horse and rushed home as soon as he heard the butler’s words.

However, despite rushing home, his brother Daniel did not regain consciousness.

Crispin coldly looked down at his brother, who was breathing shallowly but not regaining consciousness.

“About 30 minutes after Crispin arrived, he stopped breathing even the weak breaths he had been exhaling, and his heart stopped beating. After hearing from the doctor that he had passed away, the whole family wept at the unbelievable fact.”

His younger sisters, who had only been sick since they were very young, but knew that they truly loved them, cried endlessly, and the Count and Countess’s hearts also collapsed.

The servants of the house also could not hide their tears at the death of the kind and gentle eldest son of the master’s house.

But the only person who was not crying at that moment was Crispin.

“My husband and I really couldn’t understand Crispin’s behavior, and we were angry. My husband was furious, asking what his brother had done so wrong that he had been acting like that all this time. And he was furious, saying that no matter how much he hated him, how could a younger brother act like that when his brother had died? But Crispin was just cold. And as always, he just went into his room.”

After a few days, Daniel’s funeral ended, and the Earl’s family tried to forget their grief and gradually regained stability.

“But the strange thing happened from the evening after Daniel’s first anniversary memorial service.”

Crispin, who was usually quiet but had a bright personality, had been acting a little strange since the evening of the day he attended his brother’s first anniversary memorial service.

He had a very dark face even before entering the chapel, and he was very annoyed and irritable at dinner after the memorial service over something trivial.

“Everyone felt it was a little strange because of his violent behavior that we had never seen before.”

And as time went by, he began to show various erratic behaviors, from rough actions that he had never shown before to strange behaviors of talking loudly to himself in his room.

However, the son’s strange behavior, which they thought would get better in a few days, did not get better even after two months, and rather became more and more severe.

The Count and Countess could not bear to worry as their bright and intelligent son suddenly changed strangely.

“After three months, my son was the very image of a madman. His eyes were different, and he freely spewed harsh words in front of his family. He had changed as if someone else had entered his body. Then, at some point, he closed his mouth and stopped saying anything with a very dark and gloomy face.”

The Count and Countess, who did not know the reason, were terrified and anxious that even their younger son would have problems following their elder son.

They wandered around like crazy people, looking for doctors or apothecaries who were said to be good, but they did not know what to do because he looked perfectly fine on the outside.

“At that time, a doctor told me that he seemed to have a disease in his head. He said that in cases where he suddenly changes differently from usual, shouting and becoming violent and changing like another person, his mind is broken and he has a mental illness, so treatment is very difficult.”

The Count and Countess were so distressed that they could not sleep due to the anxiety that they might lose their precious second son following their eldest son, and all the daughters were also terrified when they learned of this atmosphere.

The couple, who had been running around in every way to solve their eldest son’s physical problems, now had to run around like crazy to cure their second son’s mental illness.

However, mental illness treatment in the 18th century was beyond imagination.

Since even the proper concept of physical diseases had not yet been established, treatment for mental illness could only be at a primitive level.

At that time, many doctors believed that ‘evil thoughts’ in the head created mental illness, and they thought that the solution was to deliberately create large blisters on the head and burst them.

In the days when there were no proper disinfectants, blisters created in unsanitary environments caused various inflammations, and it was not uncommon for people to die from infections with dirty germs while trying to treat mental illness.

Also, they even made and prescribed poisons that should not be eaten as medicine with the absurd idea that strong medicine should be given to kill the ‘evil thoughts’ that had entered the head.

“But I couldn’t just follow the doctors’ prescriptions. I couldn’t possibly use such terrible methods on Crispin. I tried giving him medicine a few times, but he vomited every time, so I stopped even that.”

Theo thought to himself that it was a great relief.

If he had continued to receive the absurd mental illness treatment, believing only the doctor’s words, he might have gone completely crazy or suffered fatal injuries to his body, and who knows what might have happened.

Instead of the Countess, who was closing her mouth and sobbing, the Earl of Maxwell opened his mouth.

“One day, a distinguished doctor told us that if a person suddenly becomes strange, they can get better if they create a new environment again. So, we thought that since Crispin was old enough to get married, if he had meetings with a marriage partner, he would feel refreshed and get better.”

So Crispin was introduced to a woman, and surprisingly, his bad symptoms improved considerably, just like the doctor said.

“After meeting the woman he was going to marry, his strange symptoms suddenly decreased as if by a lie. He was able to laugh brightly and have normal conversations like before. We were really happy. So, with a happy heart, we even set a wedding date in a hurry.”

Just when they thought everything was getting better, things happened again.

“As I told you yesterday, from the evening after Daniel’s 2nd anniversary memorial service two months ago, he started showing similar strange symptoms as before.

For nearly two months, he kept repeating monologues, swearing, and violence… and since a week ago, he has been keeping his mouth shut again and not talking to anyone.”

The Earl of Maxwell asked with a fearful and cautious face.

“Mr. Sanderson… can you really cure our son like this?”

Theo intuitively felt that Crispin had come to this state due to some deep, unresolved emotions.

People have an instinct to want to forget bad memories.

The brain works to quickly erase bad memories from the head according to this instinct.

The problem is that the image of this memory gradually fades and becomes blurred over time, but the emotions attached to that memory remain.

It was thought that the memory had been completely erased, but one day, when a similar situation arises, the tormenting emotions are revived.

This is the case with the commonly referred to as ‘trigger button’ [a stimulus that sets off a memory or feeling].

A situation that is really nothing to some can cause intense emotional changes in others, and the emotions that remain in the erased memory momentarily boil that person’s heart.

In this way, the facts recognized as memories are erased, but the remaining emotions remain in a person’s unconscious and torment that person.

And this unresolved emotion can manifest in the body at some point and cause mental illness for an unknown reason.

‘I have to accurately find Crispin’s unresolved and hurt feelings and turn off the trigger button.’

However, even for highly trained clinical psychologists, properly reading a patient’s hurt feelings is never easy.

Even if it seems to have a temporary effect during counseling, it returns to its previous state after a few days because it fails to capture the exact emotional core.

However, Theo, who can read people’s emotions, had the remarkable ability to accurately capture the psychological state of the patient’s unconscious and quickly heal the wounded emotions.

Thanks to this, he became famous for treating effectively and quickly without relying on medication.

Although it had been nearly 10 years since he quit being a clinical psychologist, and he was now in the 18th century, Theo was confident that he could treat Crispin.

The Countess asked with a disappointed expression.

“Even Mr. Sanderson… in the case of a severe mental illness like our son… it would be difficult, right?”

Theo shook his head.

“No. Of course, I can’t guarantee it, but I think I can treat your son.”

The Count and Countess widened their eyes and asked back at Theo’s hopeful answer.

“Yes? You said you think you can treat him?”

“Yes, that’s right. Fortunately, the progress of the disease seems to be at a level that I can cure. If the time had been delayed a little longer, treatment would have been quite difficult.”

“Ah… is that really true?”

“Yes. Please give me some time for a few days. I will do my best to treat your son’s illness.”

“Ah… thank you… thank you.”

Theo stood up from his seat and said.

“Then, shall we go up right now?”