Merriman arches an eyebrow at Mary's comment about magic, but he does not reply to it. Instead, he gives Wellard a final close scrutiny, then crosses over to replace the lantern on its hook overhead.
'This kind of memory loss is not like forgetting where you have put a book, or misplacing a set of keys,' he says, reaching up to adjust the hook before slipping the lantern back onto it. 'It is the mind's way of reacting to a very bad shock. And so the mind itself has to heal, above all else. If the memory returns, it will return in due time -- much like a broken bone knitting together. If it does not return, then worrying about it will not make it return any more quickly, and the fretting may well make matters worse.'
He also knows, though he does not say it aloud, that if magic was involved then the chances of recovering the full memory at all will be slender at best. So he looks over then, from Mary to Wellard, and adds quietly:
'We do want to know what happened, very much so. But it would not help to replace a blurred but true memory with a clearer but possibly less true one. And so what is needed now is rest, and time.'
Both of which Wellard will get, aboard the Black Pearl.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2006-10-26 09:44 pm (UTC)'This kind of memory loss is not like forgetting where you have put a book, or misplacing a set of keys,' he says, reaching up to adjust the hook before slipping the lantern back onto it. 'It is the mind's way of reacting to a very bad shock. And so the mind itself has to heal, above all else. If the memory returns, it will return in due time -- much like a broken bone knitting together. If it does not return, then worrying about it will not make it return any more quickly, and the fretting may well make matters worse.'
He also knows, though he does not say it aloud, that if magic was involved then the chances of recovering the full memory at all will be slender at best. So he looks over then, from Mary to Wellard, and adds quietly:
'We do want to know what happened, very much so. But it would not help to replace a blurred but true memory with a clearer but possibly less true one. And so what is needed now is rest, and time.'
Both of which Wellard will get, aboard the Black Pearl.