Jack the Ripper – A Love Story ( Excerpt 22 )
Mary Jane Kelly’s Diary – April 10th 1886
I am to return to the Infirmary to see Doctor Jack tomorrow, the ointment that he gave me has cured the rash. But I don’t want it to end there, I know that it’s wrong but I am beginning to develop feelings for him. The girls all tell me to use him, get what you can out of him, but I could not treat him so. Jack is so kind and gentle, even to the worst of us. He does not know what I am, a whore! just like my sisters in trade. Would he still want me if he knew? Why is my life so complicated! My mind is made up, I’ll go alone tomorrow and see what transpires. At the worse, nothing, at best he might make me an offer, one I might find very hard to refuse, my circumstances as they are.
Doctor Jack’s Journal – April 10th 1886
I am to see Miss Kelly tomorrow, I am at a loss as to know what to do. I would offer her a room, but will she misunderstand and take it as an insult. I know so very little of women and their ways, I am certain it will be my downfall. All I want is to help her? But will she see it that way or will she consider that I am trying to take advantage of her in some way. After all, she is young and pretty, I am sure that there are many men who would take advantage of her present situation, but alas, I am not one of them. All I wish is to help her and stop her downward spiral or she may end up dead in a Whitechapel gutter, The proscribed fate of her erstwhile friends.
After a hearty breakfast, I took a steady walk to the Infirmary. I had no doubt in my mind that I had found a real treasure in Mrs McGinty. The house was spotless and the meals that she provided completely killed my taste for gin. I found myself whistling as I walked, something I had not done for years. Somehow I found it strangely uplifting.
It was today that I was once again to see Mary Jane Kelly. I was at a loss as how to handle her situation, I will just have to do my very best to be tactful. Lord! I just wished that for once I could understand the way a woman’s mind worked. In truth, I find them the most perplexing of creatures.
(C) Damian Grange 2018
This is very psychological… two sided… love it!
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Thank you so much, I am trying to show Jack as a human driven by circumstances rather than the blood letting killer!
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Yes….
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Now the two sides are coming out…..you are really keeping your readers hanging here.I love it and already waiting for more😀
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Thank you so much, I am trying to show Jack as a man changed by circumstances rather than just a cold blooded killer!
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I read the book in my youth(Sorry my previous youth😉)and I always thought he was everything but a cold blooded killer.he is a so much more complex character.you are right😀
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I realise I can’t justify his innocence, but he had good reasons for his crimes!
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Excellent.
This story keeps getting better and more suspenseful with each passing chapter.
I find that last line in Jack’s diary entry, “All I wish is to help her and stop her downward spiral or she may end up dead in a Whitechapel gutter, The proscribed fate of her erstwhile friends.” quite prophetic because that was the proscribed fate Jack did to her streetwalking companions, Mary Jane Kelly being the only one of Jack’s victims found butchered in a room and not in the street.
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The downward spiral in to madness is just about to begin, but there are a few more twists in the tale!
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Brilliant. Best Angle on the story.
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Thank you darling, you are wonderful XXXX
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I’ll imagine he does… Fear is a dangerous thing.
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The downhill spiral is beginning but there are still a few twists in the tale
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Again, can’t wait for twists and turns!!! Love the story!!!!!
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Thank you so much, I can promise a few more twists and turns before the ending!
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Hopes and fears! Not hopes and rears! Omg! 😂
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I like how you show the thoughts and feelings of both characters, but be careful of redundancies. For example, in Jack’s diary, he reveals certain hopes and rears, only to then have those repeated in the next passage on the day he is to meet his lady. Maybe you can find some other way to develop the tension, or possibly omit the diary piece for him? For me, it’s a bit odd reading his diary entrances when he’s the one telling the tale. Another possibility you might consider is letting his telling of the tale be through his diary from start to finish. Just a thought. Feel free to ignore me if you wish. It is your story after all. 😉
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Its an interesting thought, My use of the diaries was to convey thoughts that neither participant feels free to discuss openly.
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Doing a little backtracking in my usual willy-nilly to and fro. Captivating story. I want to like both characters. Not understanding women is precisely what Jack is supposed to do; not understand. But it seems to stress him a bit.
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Well he was cuckolded by his wife the woman who professed to love him, so naturally although he wants to be loved, he has serious reservations, understandably so.
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