"I shall never make another creature like you," I shouted "You have done enough evil on your own."

"I shall do what you ask," I told him. "But you must promise to live somewhere in the world where nobody lives. You must promise to stay away from other people."

"I am alone and miserable. Only someone as ugly as I am could love me. You must make another creature like me, a woman monster to be my wife."

"If you don't help me, I shall make you more miserable than you have ever been in your life. You will wish you were dead," the monster said. "But if you make another monster to be my friend, we won't hurt anyone. Be kind to me now, and I will learn to love and be kind."

The monster finished telling me his story, and then he said:

I thought long and hard about the monster's words. I felt sorry for him. He was so miserable. Perhaps I should help him.

"I promise! I promise!" he cried. "Please start your work. I shall watch you, and when you are ready, you can be sure I will come back. " He turned and left me, and ran down the mountain.

I went back to Geneva immediately. My family were very worried when they saw me. I was pale and my eyes were wild. I could not forget my promise to the monster, and the awful work that waited for me. But I had to do it. It was the only way to keep my family safe… safe from his murdering hands around their necks.

I needed to study for several months to make a woman monster successfully. I heard that an English scientist had done some useful work, so I decided to go to England.

Before I went, my father asked me: "Are you going to marry Elizabeth, or do you love another woman? Is this why you are so unhappy?"

"No, father," I replied. "I have always loved Elizabeth, and I want to marry her. But I must do one more piece of scientific work before we can marry. I must go to England to do the work and I want to marry Elizabeth when I return."

My father and Elizabeth did not want me to go to England alone, because I had been so ill. They spoke to my old friend Henry Clerval, and he was very happy to travel with me. I was pleased that he could come, although I did not want him to discover anything about my horrible work.

Henry and I reached London in early October and stayed there for a few months. I met and talked with English scientists, and learnt many useful things from them. Then Henry was invited to visit some friends in Scotland. I planned to travel with him, but I told him that I wanted to go walking in the mountains alone. Henry was not happy with my plan, but in the end he agreed.

There was a large, empty hut on the island, and I brought builders from Scotland to make the hut into a laboratory for me. I showed them how to build my mast, and soon everything was ready for me to start work on the woman monster.

I bought all that I needed for a laboratory, and sent everything to Scotland. Henry and I travelled to Edinburgh together, and then I went further north, to find a good place for my laboratory. At last I found the right place on an island off the north coast. It was a wild and lonely place. Only five people lived on the island, so I could work alone, and nobody would discover my awful secret.