The Deposition of Thomas Thorne

AlternateHistory

DATE: 14 October, 1667 LOCATION: Guildhall, London PRESIDING: Magistrate H. Vane CLERK: J. Miller WITNESS: Thomas Thorne, Weaver (The record begins with the witness standing. The sound of a quill scratching on parchment is noted. The room is described by the clerk as smelling of old wax and damp stone.) MAGISTRATE VANE: Mr. Thorne, you have been brought before this court on the testimony of your master, Mr. Gedge. He claims that your productivity has fallen to nearly nothing and that you spend your hours in a state of profound distraction. Do you deny this? THORNE: I do not deny the distraction, sir. I only deny that it is a failing of my character. MAGISTRATE VANE: Your master states that you have been observed staring at the sky for hours. He further alleges that you have spoken of a color that does not exist. He uses a word that is not found in any current ledger of dyes or pigments. This word is 'blue'. Are you familiar with this term? THORNE: I am. I see it every morning when the sun breaks through the soot. MAGISTRATE VANE: (A pause of ten seconds) Explain yourself. The sky is grey. On clear days, it is a pale, blinding white. In the evenings, it is the color of a bruised plum or copper. These are the known states of the firmament. To claim otherwise is to claim a rupture in the natural order. THORNE: It is not a rupture, sir. It is simply there. It is the color of the deep water in the harbor, though the water itself is now a muddy brown. It is the color of the distance. It is a coolness that the eye feels before the mind names it. MAGISTRATE VANE: This is a dangerous line of speech, Mr. Thorne. Since the Great Fire, it has been established by the Royal Society and the Church that the atmosphere was cleansed of certain impurities. The world is as it should be. To imagine a color that cannot be produced by any pigment in London is not an observation; it is a delusion. Do you believe you are possessed? THORNE: I believe I am awake. I see it here, too. (The witness is noted to have held up his left wrist toward the Magistrate.) Look at the veins, sir. Under the skin. They are not grey. They are not pale. They are blue. MAGISTRATE VANE: (The Magistrate does not look.) I will not indulge a fantasy that threatens the stability of your trade and the sanity of your peers. You describe a sensation that no other living soul in this city recognizes. If you cannot see the world as it is, you are a liability to your guild. THORNE: Does it not seem a cruelty, sir, that we should all agree to forget something so beautiful? I see it in the shadows of the snow. I see it in the center of a flame if I look long enough. It is a quiet color. It does not shout, but it is there. MAGISTRATE VANE: Beauty is found in the truth of what is. What you describe is a ghost. A phantom of the eye. You will be remanded to the care of the parish physician for a course of salts and a period of reflection. You are to cease the use of this forbidden word, lest you be tried for spiritual instability. THORNE: I will be silent if the law demands it. But the sky is still there. It is waiting for you to look at it again. (The session is concluded. The witness is led from the room. The clerk notes that the witness did not weep, but looked at the ceiling with a small, private smile.)