The doctor is stunned unto silence, for he'd been unprepared for the rancor behind her words. He had been about to counter against the verbal attack but instead he made himself give pause, for he sensed she was very much upset about this, and rightly she should be. Seward does mean well, but perhaps he did not have a full grasp of the history behind Jack's condition. And what sort of physician would he be if he did not have knowledge in its entirety? For, as his Professor had once said, it was better to trust knowledge than one's own memory.
Seward did sympathize. His anger for Lucy's misfortune had had time to turn unto sorrow, but there was a marked difference in that Jack had come back to Alice alive. If but barely.
His gaze falters and he looks to the ground, trying in his own way to console her but in a way he knew from experience. Perhaps it was not altogether what she'd have wanted to hear...
"Miss Liddell: There is no denying how cruel a man he was. Nor how vile. And such a being is more monster than man...But even so, if he'd been rightfully punished would the sting to your words vanish? Would the hurt diminish? True, closure has power to make us aright again, but so does forgiveness...I cannot ask that of you, but if not doing so compromises your chances at happiness..."
"Bruce Wayne? I'm afraid I'm not familiar with the name, but by mistake...Truly, it cannot be he was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time?"
An astounding coincidence, really. He'd not have considered that. Certainly, wouldn't Jack's mannerisms given him away that he was someone else altogether? And there was a matter of age...But maybe that hadn't mattered to a man like Black Mask.
"I'd be happy to," Seward nods compliantly, absently wringing his hands together. The tension in the air was beginning to get thick, this much he could tell. It was as if there was a shift in their surroundings as well as perspective.
Almost done with finals! So steady tags from now on, I swear!
Seward did sympathize. His anger for Lucy's misfortune had had time to turn unto sorrow, but there was a marked difference in that Jack had come back to Alice alive. If but barely.
His gaze falters and he looks to the ground, trying in his own way to console her but in a way he knew from experience. Perhaps it was not altogether what she'd have wanted to hear...
"Miss Liddell: There is no denying how cruel a man he was. Nor how vile. And such a being is more monster than man...But even so, if he'd been rightfully punished would the sting to your words vanish? Would the hurt diminish? True, closure has power to make us aright again, but so does forgiveness...I cannot ask that of you, but if not doing so compromises your chances at happiness..."
"Bruce Wayne? I'm afraid I'm not familiar with the name, but by mistake...Truly, it cannot be he was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time?"
An astounding coincidence, really. He'd not have considered that. Certainly, wouldn't Jack's mannerisms given him away that he was someone else altogether? And there was a matter of age...But maybe that hadn't mattered to a man like Black Mask.
"I'd be happy to," Seward nods compliantly, absently wringing his hands together. The tension in the air was beginning to get thick, this much he could tell. It was as if there was a shift in their surroundings as well as perspective.