Though he did not report their illegal and immoral activities, Malcolm voiced his disapproval to Barbara and asked her to leave this lifestyle and run away with him. He became conflicted between his morality and his feelings for Barbara. Through her carelessness, Malcolm discovered the darker nature of Blythe and Gestern's research. Blythe was tasked with overseeing Gestern's English interests but she became more interested in a romance with Gestern's Scottish business partner, Malcolm Curry. She continued to work closely with her mentor but slowly grew apart from Gestern after she was sent to England. Having been mentored by Gestern, Blythe was able to attend university and acquire a doctorate in chemistry.

When he left London, Barbara went to Germany with him where she continued her education.

Realizing she would make a fitting lab assistant, Gestern took the Irish girl under his care, cleaned her up, and began to educate her. Gestern saw an uncommon intelligence in the girl and saw the trauma she had lived through in her eyes. Somehow having ended up in London and living on the street, Barbara was found by a man named Gerhardt Gestern - a German scientist visiting London whose temporary lab she had attempted to burglarize. By age nine, she was orphaned after her mother died of sickness and her father died in an accidental explosion while working as a bomb maker for the Fenian Brotherhood. Not much is known about her early childhood other than it was spent in poverty. Barbara Blythe as born in Londonderry, Ireland and raised in nearby County Donegal.

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