"That is exactly my problem," Brother Timothy said, having brought the conversation to exactly the point he wanted. "Upstairs, in Mendel's rooms right now are two Englishmen who, encouraged by Herr Grunewald, wish to associate this Monastery with Darwin's heretical ideas."
"What do you mean?" asked the Prior.
"Herr Grunewald brought two friends of Darwin here to the Monastery. They want to take some of the work that Brother Gregory has been doing with those peas of his and get Darwin to incorporate it into the next edition of his book." Brother Timothy was being his most persuasive. "Should that happen, and should the Bishop find out that the Monastery is prominently associated with this dubious and possibly impious work, his anger will know no bounds, and his wrath could mean the end of us."
At this, Prior Sembera became alarmed. "Are you sure? Why would Brother Gregory allow this? He is a good man. Not as pious as I would wish, but, never the less I am sure he would never do anything that would harm St Thomas's!".
"Of course not," Brother Timothy rushed to assure him, "Brother Gregory is a saint and much too unworldly. It is Herr Otto Grunewald who is the instrument behind this situation. Remember, both Herr Grunewald and Mendel are Germans, it is easy for Herr Grunewald to lead Mendel where ever he wishes him to go."
Sembera, an ethnic Czech, said, "Yes, the German element, I had forgotten that. The Germans are not as devoted to God as we Czechs, they might be tempted to go beyond what is good for the Monastery, just to achieve some temporary fame. But what can we do to prevent this from happening?"
Brother Timothy pretended to think about this question. "That is why I came to see you. Obviously we must do all we can to persuade the two Englishmen not to report on Mendel's results. Darwin must never hear of them. But, how ....?" Once again he allowed his voice to trail off with doubt.
"If they already know about this work of Mendel's, how can we prevent them from telling others?"
"The English seem to be honorable gentlemen," Brother Timothy went on, as if thinking through an idea. "and Mendel has not yet published his work. In fact, he has only just talked about the first part of it to the Natural History Society yesterday. If..."
"Yes, yes," encouraged Sembera.
"Well, it is only a thought, but ... if the Abbot could persuade them that Mendel's results are only preliminary, and not yet ready for publication, he might be able to convince them that their release is premature. I know Mendel has more work to do. If the Englishmen left here with the idea that the Abbot would not want them to tell Darwin until the conclusions were firm..." He looked at the Prior. "As honorable men, they might be willing to hold onto their knowledge and not make it generally known, until the Monastery and Mendel could take full credit."
Sembera had caught Brother Timothy's meaning. "You mean ask them not to say anything about Mendel's results until he has published them, and thus established his priority to the discovery?"
"You understand completely," Brother Timothy exclaimed, "I knew you would."
"But how?" asked the Prior, "Abbot Napp likes Mendel, and if he thought that Mendel's results were important, then he would want the Englishmen to give him as much publicity as possible. I don't see how we could get him to do what you suggest."
"Alas, no," said Brother Timothy, pretending to be disappointed, "you are right. The Abbot would probably take the position that having Mendel's work written about by Darwin would be good for him and us."
"Forgetting, of course, the difficulties this would create with the Bishop." said Sembera.
"Yes."
"Then what can we do?"
"Before the Englishmen leave here, someone in authority must speak to them and explain that we do not wish for Mendel to be hurt by the premature release of his results, before he is ready to publish them himself. But, as you say, the Abbot is unlikely to take that position, or act in that way." Brother Timothy let his words hang in the air, waiting. He did not have to wait long.
Sembera's face lit up. "I could to that," he exclaimed, "I could talk to them and ask them not to tell Herr Darwin about Brother Gregory, or his work."
"Would you do that?" said Brother Timothy, trying to appear as if the idea had not occurred to him half an hour ago outside Mendel's door. "You would have to be very subtle, and stress how much it would hurt Brother Gregory to have his results talked about in the English press before we, as good Czechs, have had a chance to receive our due credit."
"Yes, yes," said the Prior, not liking the coaching that Brother Timothy was giving him. "Naturally."
"Good," said Brother Timothy, knowing when to back off, "as soon as Herr Grunewald and his guests have finished with Mendel, I'll take them to see the Abbot, and after that I will ask them to stop by here and speak with you."
He picked up Darwin's book, "I'll return this to the library, as you suggest. So long as the Englishmen to not bring us any unwanted publicity it will do no harm to keep it well hidden on some back shelf."
Sembera could not remember suggesting anything of the sort, but he did not object. Brother Timothy left the room, well pleased with himself.