Chapter 5
§05. Rotten Mother
In the hallowed halls of academia, I beheld a lady of exceptional brilliance. Madame Curie, renowned for her pioneering work in the realm of radioactivity, stood before me – a symbol of feminine intellect and ingenuity. Though she appeared a decade my junior, her expertise far surpassed my own.
"Are you the esteemed Dr. Herbert, author of ‘Nation and Destiny' and ‘The Age of Anti-Intellectualism'?" she inquired, her voice ringing with a note of respect.
I could not help but gape in astonishment, as I had never anticipated that the titles of my tomes would pass through her lips. Yet, she nodded with a proud gleam in her eye, and withdrew from her desk drawer a book – the French translation of my work.
"I found it quite impressive!" she exclaimed.
I confess that I was quite bewildered by her words. Madame Curie had always been a figure to be emulated, yet our dynamic was quite the opposite. To her, I was a learned scholar with a record of accomplishments, while to me, she was but a newly minted research student.
At this, I suppressed a chuckle. I could not take pride in authoring a tome that impressed a figure as illustrious as she.
There exists a possibility that one day, the inscrutable enigma of my past may be expounded upon. But until that moment arrives, I am left with the knowledge that those two books bear the indelible mark of my darkest history. Whenever I am confronted by young scholars who laud my work and offer their admiration, my mind reels in bewilderment.
Especially when it was the esteemed Madame Curie herself who approached me.