DRACULA
Bram
Stoker
CHAPTER
XVIII.
DR.
SEWARD'S DIARY.
30 September.- I got home at five o'clock, and found that
Godalming and Morris had not only arrived, but had already studied the
transcript of the various diaries and letters which Harker and his
wonderful wife had made and arranged. Harker had not yet returned from
his visit to the carriers' men, of whom Dr. Hennessey had written to
me. Mrs. Harker gave us a cup of tea, and I can honestly say that, for
the first time since I have lived in it, this old house seemed like
home. When we had finished, Mrs. Harker said:-
"Dr. Seward, may I ask a favour? I want to see your
patient, Mr. Renfield. Do
let me see him. What you have said of him in your diary interests me
so much!" She looked so appealing and so pretty that I could not
refuse her, and there was no possible reason why I should; so I took
her with me. When I went into the room, I told the man that a lady
would like to see him; to which he simply answered: "Why?"
"She is going through the house, and wants to see every
one in it," I answered. "Oh, very well," he said;
"let her come in, by all means; but just wait a minute till I
tidy up the place." His method of tidying was peculiar: he simply
swallowed all the flies and spiders in the boxes before I could stop
him. It was quite evident that he feared, or was jealous of, some
interference. When he had got through his disgusting task, he said
cheerfully: "Let the lady come in," and sat down on the edge
of his bed with his head down, but with his eyelids raised so that he
could see her as she entered. For a moment I thought that he might
have some homicidal intent; I remembered how quiet he had been just
before he attacked me in my own study, and I took care to stand where
I could seize him at once if he attempted to make a spring at her. She
came into the room with an easy gracefulness which would at once
command the respect of any lunatic- for easiness is one of the
qualities mad people most respect.
She walked over to him, smiling pleasantly, and held out her
hand.
"Good-evening, Mr. Renfield," said she. "You
see, I know you, for Dr. Seward has told me of you." He made no
immediate reply, but eyed her all over intently with a set frown on
his face. This look gave way to one of wonder, which merged in doubt;
then, to my intense astonishment, he said:-
"You're not the girl the doctor wanted to marry, are you?
You can't be, you know, for she's dead." Mrs. Harker smiled
sweetly as she replied:-
"Oh no! I have a husband of my own, to whom I was married
before I ever saw Dr. Seward, or he me. I am Mrs. Harker."
"Then what are you doing here?"
"My husband and I are staying on a visit with Dr.
Seward."
"Then don't stay."
"But why not?" I thought that this style of
conversation might not be pleasant to Mrs. Harker, any more than it
was to me, so I joined in:-
"How did you know I wanted to marry any one?" His
reply was simply contemptuous, given in a pause in which he turned his
eyes from Mrs. Harker to me, instantly turning them back again:-
"What an asinine question!"
"I don't see that at all, Mr. Renfield," said Mrs.
Harker, at once championing me. He replied to her with as much
courtesy and respect as he had shown contempt to me:-
"You will, of course, understand, Mrs. Harker, that when a
man is so loved and honoured as our host is, everything regarding him
is of interest in our little community. Dr. Seward is loved not only
by his household and his friends, but even by his patients, who, being
some of them hardly in mental equilibrium, are apt to distort causes
and effects. Since I myself have been an inmate of a lunatic asylum, I
cannot but notice that the sophistic tendencies of some of its inmates
lean towards the errors of non causa and ignoratio elenchi." I
positively opened my eyes at this new development. Here was my own pet
lunatic- the most pronounced of his type that I had ever met
with-talking elemental philosophy, and with the manner of a polished
gentleman. I wonder if it was Mrs. Harker's presence which had touched
some chord in his memory. If this new phase was spontaneous, or in any
way due to her unconscious influence, she must have some rare gift or
power.
We continued to talk for some time; and, seeing that he was
seemingly quite reasonable, she ventured, looking at me questioningly
as she began, to lead him to his favourite topic. I was again
astonished, for he addressed himself to the question with the
impartiality of the completest sanity: he even took himself as an
example when he mentioned certain things.
"Why, I myself am an instance of a man who had a strange
belief. Indeed, it was no
wonder that my friends were alarmed, and insisted on my being put
under control. I used to fancy that life was a positive and perpetual
entity and that by consuming a multitude of live things, no matter how
low in the scale of creation, one might indefinitely prolong life. At
times I held the belief so strongly that I actually tried to take
human life. The doctor here will bear me out that on one occasion I
tried to kill him for the purpose of strengthening my vital powers by
the assimilation with my own body of his life through the medium of
his blood-relying, of course, upon the Scriptual phrase. 'For the
blood is the life.' Though, indeed, the vendor of a certain nostrum
has vulgarised the truism to the very point of contempt. Isn't that
true, doctor?" I nodded assent, for I was so amazed that I hardly
knew what to either think or say; it was hard to imagine that I had
seen him eat up his spiders and flies not five minutes before. Looking
at my watch, I saw that I should go to the station to meet Van Helsing,
so I told Mrs. Harker that it was time to leave. She came at once,
after saying pleasantly to Mr. Renfield: "Good-bye, and I hope I
may see you often, under auspices pleasanter to yourself," to
which, to my astonishment, he replied:-
"Good-bye, my dear. I pray God I may never see your sweet
face again. May He bless and keep you!"
When I went to the station to meet Van Helsing I left the boys
behind me. Poor Art seemed more cheerful than he has been since Lucy
first took ill, and Quincey is more like his own bright self than he
has been for many a long day.
Van Helsing stepped from the carriage with the eager nimbleness
of a boy. He saw me at once, and rushed up to me, saying:-
"Ah, friend John, how goes all? Well? So! I have been
busy, for I come here to stay if need be. All affairs are settled with
me, and I have much to tell. Madame Mina is with you? Yes. And her so
fine husband? And Arthur and my friend Quincey, they are with you,
too? Good!"
As I drove to the house I told him of what had passed, and of
how my own diary had come to be of some use through Mrs. Harker's
suggestion; at which the Professor interrupted me:-
"Ah, that wonderful Madam Mina! She has man's brain- a
brain that a man should have were he much gifted- and woman's heart.
The good God fashioned her for a purpose, believe me, when He made
that so good combination. Friend John, up to now fortune has made that
woman of help to us; after to-night she must not have to do with this
terrible affair. It is not good that she run a risk so great. We men
are determined- nay, are we not pledged?- to destroy this monster; but
it is no part for a woman. Even if she be not harmed, her heart may
fail her in so much and so many horrors; and hereafter she may
suffer-both in waking, from her nerves, and in sleep, from her dreams.
And, besides, she is young woman and not so long married; there may be
other things to think of some time, if not now. You tell me she has
wrote all, then she must consult with us; but to-morrow she say
good-bye to this work, and we go alone." I agreed heartily with
him, and then I told him what we had found in his absence: that the
house which Dracula had bought was the very next one to my own. He was
amazed, and a great concern seemed to come on him. "Oh that we
had known it before!" he said, "for then we might have
reached him in time to save poor Lucy. However, 'the milk that is
spilt cries not out afterwards,' as you say. We shall not think of
that, but go on our way to the end." Then he fell into a silence
that lasted till we entered my own gateway. Before we went to prepare
for dinner he said to Mrs. Harker:-
"I am told, Madam Mina, by my friend John that you and
your husband have put up in exact order all things that have been, up
to this moment."
"Not up to this moment, Professor," she said
impulsively, "but up to this morning."
"But why not up to now? We have seen hitherto how good
light all the little things have made. We have told our secrets, and
yet no one who has told is the worse for it."
Mrs. Harker began to blush, and taking a paper from her
pockets, she said:-
"Dr. Van Helsing, will you read this, and tell me if it
must go in. It is my record of to-day. I too have seen the need of
putting down at present everything, however trivial; but there is
little in this except what is personal. Must it go in?" The
Professor read it over gravely, and handed it back, saying:-
"It need not go in if you do not wish it; but I pray that
it may. It can but make your husband love you the more, and all us,
your friends, more honour you- as well as more esteem and love."
She took it back with another blush and a bright smile.
And so now, up to this very hour, all the records we have are
complete and in order. The Professor took away one copy to study after
dinner, and before our meeting, which is fixed for nine o'clock. The
rest of us have already read everything; so when we meet in the study
we shall all be informed as to facts, and can arrange our plan of
battle with this terrible and mysterious enemy.
Mina Harker's Journal.
30 September.- When we met in Dr. Seward's study two hours
after dinner, which had been at six o'clock, we unconsciously formed a
sort of board or committee. Professor Van Helsing took the head of the
table, to which Dr. Seward motioned him as he came into the room. He
made me sit next to him on his right, and asked me to act as
secretary; Jonathan sat next to me. Opposite us were Lord Godalming,
Dr. Seward, and Mr. Morris- Lord Godalming being next the Professor,
and Dr. Seward in the centre. The Professor said:-
"I may, I suppose, take it that we are all acquainted with
the facts that are in these papers." We all expressed assent, and
he went on:-
"Then it were, I think good that I tell you something of
the kind of enemy with which we have to deal. I shall then make it
known to you something of the history of this man, which has been
ascertained for me. So we then can discuss how we shall act, and can
take our measure according.
"There are such beings as vampires; some of us have
evidence that they exist. Even had we not the proof of our own unhappy
experience, the teachings and the records of the past give proof
enough for sane peoples. I admit that at the first I was sceptic. Were
it not that through long years I have train myself to keep an open
mind, I could not have believe until such time as that fact thunder on
my ear. 'See! see! I
prove; I prove,' Alas! Had I known at the first what now I know- nay,
had I even guess at him- one so precious life had been spared to many
of us who did love her. But that is gone; and we must so work, that
other poor souls perish not, whilst we can save. The nosferatu do not
die like the bee when he sting once. He is only stronger; and being
stronger, have yet more power to work evil. This vampire which is
amongst us is of himself so strong in person as twenty men; he is of
cunning more than mortal, for his cunning be the growth of ages; he
have still the aids of necromancy, which is, as his etymology imply,
the divination by the dead, and all the dead that he can come nigh to
are for him at command; he is brute, and more than brute; he is devil
in callous, and the heart of him is not; he can, within limitations,
appear at will when, and where, and ill any of the forms that are to
him; he can, within his range, direct the elements; the storm, the
fog, the thunder; he can command all the meaner things: the rat, and
the owl, and the bat- the moth, and the fox, and the wolf, he can grow
and become small; and he can at times vanish and come unknown. How
then are we to begin our strife to destroy him? How shall we find his
where, and having found it, how can we destroy? My friends, this is
much; it is a terrible task that we undertake, and there may be
consequence to make the brave shudder. For if we fail in this our
fight he must surely win; and then where end we? Life is nothings; I
heed him not. But to fail here, is not mere life or death. It is that
we become as him; that we henceforward become foul things of the night
like him- without heart or conscience, preying on the bodies and the
souls of those we love best. To us for ever are the gates of heaven
shut: for who shall open them to us again? We go on for all time
abhorred by all; a blot on the face of God's sunshine; an arrow in the
side of Him who died for man. But we are face to face with duty; and
in such case must we shrink? For me, I say, no; but then I am old, and
life, with his sunshine, his fair places, his song of birds, his music
and his love, lie far behind. You others are young. Some have seen
sorrow; but there are fair days yet in store. What say you?"
Whilst he was speaking Jonathan had taken my hand. I feared, oh
so much, that the appalling nature of our danger was overcoming him
when I saw his hand stretch out; but it was life to me to feel its
touch- so strong, so self-reliant, so resolute. A brave man's hand can
speak for itself, it does not even need a woman's love to hear its
music.
When the Professor had done speaking my husband looked in my
eyes, and I in his; there was no need for speaking between us.
"I answer for Mina and myself," he said.
"Count me in, Professor," said Mr. Quincey Morris,
laconically as usual.
"I am with you," said Lord Godalming, "for
Lucy's sake, if for no other reason."
Dr. Dr. Seward simply nodded. The Professor stood up and, after
laying his golden crucifix on the table, held out his hand on either
side. I took his right hand, and Lord Godalming his left; Jonathan
held my right with his left and stretched across to Mr. Morris. So as
we all took hands our solemn compact was made. I felt my heart icy
cold, but it did not even occur to me to draw back. We resumed our
places, and Dr. Van Helsing went on with a sort of cheerfulness which
showed that the serious work had begun. It was to be taken as gravely,
and in as businesslike a way, as any other transaction of life:-
"Well, you know what we have to contend against; but we,
too, are not without strength. We have on our side power of
combination- a power denied to the vampire kind; we have sources of
science; we are free to act and think; and the hours of the day and
the night are ours equally. In fact, so far as our powers extend, they
are unfettered, and we are free to use them. We have self-devotion in
a cause, and an end to achieve which is not a selfish one. These
things are much.
"Now let us see how far the general powers arrayed against
us are restrict, and how the individual cannot. In fine, let us
consider the limitations of the vampire in general, and of this one in
particular.
"All we have to go upon are traditions and superstitions.
These do not at the first appear much, when the matter is one of life
and death- nay of more than either life or death. Yet must we be
satisfied; in the first place because we have to be- no other means is
at our control- and secondly, because, after all, these
things-tradition and superstition- are everything. Does not the belief
in vampires rest for others- though not, alas! for us- on them? A year
ago which of us would have received such a possibility, in the midst
of our scientific, sceptical, matter-of-fact nineteenth century? We
even scouted a belief that we saw justified under our very eyes.
Take it, then, that the vampire, and the belief in his
limitations and his cure, rest for the moment on the same base. For,
let me tell you, he is known everywhere that men have been. In old
Greece, in old Rome; he nourish in Germany all over, in France, in
India, even in the Chersonese; and in China, so far from us in all
ways, there even is he, and the peoples fear him at this day. He have
follow the wake of the berserker Icelander, the devil-begotten Hun,
the Slav, the Saxon, the Magyar. So far, then, we have all we may act
upon; and let me tell you that very much of the beliefs are justified
by what we have seen in our own so unhappy experience. The vampire
live on, and cannot die by mere passing of the time; he can flourish
when that he can fatten on the blood of the living. Even more, we have
seen amongst us that he can even grow younger; that his vital
faculties grow strenuous, and seem as though they refresh themselves
when his special pabulum is plenty. But he cannot flourish without
this diet; he eat not as others. Even friend Jonathan, who lived with
him for weeks, did never see him to eat, never! He throws no shadow;
he make in the mirror no reflect, as again Jonathan observe. He has
the strength of many of his hand- witness again Jonathan when he shut
the door against the wolfs, and when he help him from the diligence
too. He can transform himself to wolf, as we gather from the ship
arrival in Whitby, when he tear open the dog; he can be as bat, as
Madam Mina saw him on the window at Whitby, and as friend John saw him
fly from this so near house, and as my friend Quincey saw him at the
window of Miss Lucy. He can come in mist which he create- that noble
ship's captain proved him of this; but, from what we know, the
distance he can make this mist is limited, and it can only be round
himself. He come on moonlight rays as elemental dust- as again
Jonathan saw those sisters in the castle of Dracula. He become so
small- we ourselves saw Miss Lucy, ere she was at peace, slip through
a hairbreadth space at the tomb door. He can, when once he find his
way, come out from anything or into anything, no matter how close it
be bound or even fused up with fire-solder you call it. He can see in
the dark- no small power this, in a world which is one half shut from
the light. Ah, but hear me through. He can do all these things, yet he
is not free. Nay; he is even more prisoner than the slave of the
galley, than the madman in his cell. He cannot go where he lists; he
who is not of nature has yet to obey some of nature's laws- why we
know not. He may not enter anywhere at the first, unless there be some
one of the household who bid him to come; though afterwards he can
come as he please. His power ceases, as does that of all evil things,
at the coming of the day. Only at certain times can he have limited
freedom. If Ire be not at the place whither he is bound, he can only
change himself at noon or at exact sunrise or sunset. These things are
we told, and in this record of ours we have proof by inference. Thus,
whereas he can do as he will within his limit, when he have his
earth-home, his coffin-home, his hell-home, the place unhallowed, as
we saw when he went to the grave of the suicide at Whitby; still at
other time he can only change when the time come. It is said, too, that he can only pass running water at the
slack or the flood of the tide. Then there are things which so afflict
him that he has no power, as the garlic that we know of, and as for
things scared, as this symbol, my crucifix, that was amongst us even
now when we resolve, to them he is nothing, but in their presence he
take his place far off and silent with respect. There are others, too,
which I shall tell you of, lest in our seeking we may need them. The
branch of wild rose on his coffin keep him that he move not from it; a
sacred bullet fired into the coffin kill him so that he be true dead;
and as for the stake through him, we know already of its peace; or the
cut-off head that giveth rest. We have seen it with our eyes.
"Thus when we find the habitation of this man-that-was, we
can confine him to his coffin and destroy him, if we obey what we
know. But he is clever. I have asked my friend Arminius, of Buda-Pesth
University, to make his record; and, from all the means that are, he
tell me of what he has seen. He must, indeed, have been that Voivode
Dracula who won his name against the Turk, over the great river on the
very frontier of Turkey-land. If it be so, then was he no common man;
for in that time, and for centuries after, he was spoken of as the
cleverest and the most cunning, as well as the bravest of the sons of
the 'land beyond the forest.' That mighty brain and that iron
resolution went with him to his grave, and are even now arrayed
against us. The Draculas were, says Arminius, a great and noble race,
though now and again were scions who were held by their coevals to
have had dealings with the Evil One. They learned his secrets in the
Scholomance, amongst the mountains over Lake Hermanstadt, where the
devil claims the tenth scholar as his due. In the records are such
words as 'stregoica'- witch, 'ordog,' and 'pokol'- Satan and hell; and
in one manuscript this very Dracula is spoken of as 'wampyr,' which we
all understand too well. There have been from the loins of this very
one great men and good women, and their graves make sacred the earth
where alone this foulness can dwell. For it is not the least of its
terrors that this evil thing is rooted deep in all good; in soil
barren of holy memories it cannot rest."
Whilst they were talking Mr. Morris was looking steadily at the
window, and he now got up quietly, and went out of the room. There was
a little pause, and then the Professor went on:-
"And now we must settle what we do. We have here much
data, and we must proceed to lay out our campaign. We know from the
inquiry of Jonathan that from the castle to Whitby came fifty boxes of
earth, all of which were delivered at Carfax; we also know that at
least some of these boxes have been removed. It seems to the, that our
first step should be to ascertain whether all the rest remain in the
house beyond that wall where we look to-day; or whether any more have
been removed. If the latter, we must trace-"
Here we were interrupted in a very startling way. Outside the
house came the sound of a pistol shot; the glass of the window was
shattered with a bullet, which, ricochetting from the top of the
embrasure, struck the far wall of the room. I am afraid I am at heart
a coward, for I shrieked out. The men all jumped to their feet; Lord
Godalming flew over to the window and threw up the sash. As he did so
we heard Mr. Morris's voice without.-
"Sorry! I fear I have alarmed you. I shall come in and
tell you about it." A minute later he came in and said:-
"It was an idiotic thing of me to do, and I ask your
pardon, Mrs. Harker, most sincerely; I fear I must have frightened you
terribly. But the fact is
that whilst the Professor was talking there came a big bat and sat on
the window-sill. I have got such a horror of the damned brutes from
recent events that I cannot stand then, and I went out to have a shot,
as I have been doing of late of evenings whenever I have seen one. You
used to laugh at me for it then, Art."
"Did you hit it?" asked Dr. Van Helsing.
"I don't know; I fancy not, for it flew away into the
wood." Without saying any more he took his seat, and the
Professor began to resume his statement:-
"We must trace each of these boxes; and when we are ready,
we must either capture or kill this monster in his lair; or we must,
so to speak, sterilise the earth, so that no more he can seek safety
in it. Thus in the end we may find him in his form of man between the
hours of noon and sunset, and so engage with him when he is at his
most weak.
"And now for you, Madam Mina, this night is the end until
all be well. You are too precious to us to have such risk. When we
part to-night, you no more must question. We shall tell you all in
good time. We are men and are able to bear; but you must be our star
and our hope, and we shall act all the more free that you are not in
the danger, such as we are."
All the men, even Jonathan, seemed relieved; but it did not
seem to me good that they should brave danger and, perhaps, lessen
their safety- strength being the best safety- through care of me; but
their minds were made up, and, though it was a bitter pill for me to
swallow, I could say nothing, save to accept their chivalrous care of
me.
Mr. Morris resumed the discussion:-
"As there is no time to lose, I vote we have a look at his
house right now. Time is everything with him; and swift action on our
part may save another victim."
I own that my heart began to fail me when the time for action
came so close, but I did not say anything, for I had a greater fear
that if I appeared as a drag or a hindrance to their work, they might
even leave me out of their counsels altogether. They have now gone off
to Carfax, with means to get into the house.
Manlike, they had told me to go to bed and sleep; as if a woman
can sleep when those she loves are in danger! I shall lie down and
pretend to sleep, lest Jonathan have added anxiety about me when he
returns.
Dr. Seward's Diary.
1 October, 4 a.m.- Just as we were about to leave the house, an
urgent message was brought to me from Renfield to know if I would see
him at once, as he had something of the utmost importance to say to
me. I told the messenger to say that I would attend to his wishes in
the morning; I was busy just at the moment. The attendant added:-
"He seems very importunate, sir. I have never seen him so
eager. I don't know but what, if you don't see him soon, he will have
one of his violent fits." I knew the man would not have said this
without some cause, so I said: "All right; I'll go now;" and
I asked the others to wait a few minutes for me, as I had to go and
see my "patient."
"Take me with you, friend John," said the Professor.
"His case in your diary interest me much, and it had bearing,
too, now and again on our case. I should much like to see him, and
especial when his mind is disturbed."
"May I come also?" asked Lord Godalming.
"Me too?" said Quincey Morris. "May I
come?" said Harker. I nodded, and we all went down the passage
together.
We found him in a state of considerable excitement, but far
more rational in his speech and manner than I had ever seen him. There
was an unusual understanding of himself, which was unlike anything I
had ever met with in a lunatic; and he took it for granted that his
reasons would prevail with others entirely sane, We all four went into
the room, but none of the others at first said anything. His request
was that I would at once release him from the asylum and send him
home. This he backed up with arguments regarding his complete
recovery, and adduced his own existing sanity. "I appeal to your
friends," he said, "they will, perhaps, not mind sitting in
judgment on my case. By the way, you have not introduced me." I
was so much astonished, that the oddness of introducing a madman in an
asylum did not strike me at the moment; and, besides, there was a
certain dignity in the man's manner, so much of the habit of equality,
that I at once made the introduction: "Lord Godalming; Professor
Van Helsing; Mr. Quincey Morris, of Texas; Mr. Renfield." He
shook hands with each of them, saying in turn:-
"Lord Godalming, I had the honour of seconding your father
at the Windham; I grieve to know, by your holding the title, that he
is no more. He was a man loved and honoured by all who knew him; and
in his youth was, I have heard, the inventor of a burnt rum punch,
much patronised on Derby night. Mr. Morris, you should be proud of
your great state. Its reception into the Union was a precedent which
may have far-reaching effects hereafter, when the Pole and the Tropics
may hold alliance to the Stars and Stripes. The power of Treaty may
yet prove a vast engine of enlargement, when the Monroe doctrine takes
its true place as a political fable. What shall any man say of his
pleasure at meeting Van Helsing? Sir, I make no apology for dropping
all forms of conventional prefix. When an individual has
revolutionised therapeutics by his discovery of the continuous
evolution of brain-matter, conventional forms are unfitting, since
they would seem to limit him to one of a class. You, gentlemen, who by
nationality, by heredity, or by the possession of natural gifts, are
fitted to hold your respective places in the moving world, I take to
witness that I am as sane as at least the majority of men who are in
full possession of their liberties. And I am sure that you, Dr.
Seward, humanitarian and medico-jurist as well as scientist,
will deem it a moral duty to deal with me as one to be considered as
under exceptional circumstances." He made this last appeal with a
courtly air of conviction which was not without its own charm.
I think we were all staggered. For my own part, I was under the
conviction, despite my knowledge of the man's character and history,
that his reason had been restored; and I felt under a strong impulse
to tell him that I was satisfied as to his sanity, and would see about
the necessary formalities for his release in the morning. I thought it
better to wait, however, before making so grave a statement, for of
old I knew the sudden changes to which this particular patient was
liable. So I contented myself with making a general statement that he
appeared to be improving very rapidly; that I would have a longer chat
with him in the morning, and would then see what I could do in the
direction of meeting his wishes. This did not at all satisfy him, for
he said quickly:-
"But I fear, Dr. Seward, that you hardly apprehend my
wish. I desire to go at once- here- now- this very hour- this very
moment, if I may. Time presses, and in our implied agreement with the
old scytheman it is of the essence of the contract. I am sure it is
only necessary to put before so admirable a practitioner as Dr. Seward
so simple, yet so momentous a wish, to ensure its fulfilment." He
looked at me keenly, and seeing the negative in my face, turned to the
others, and scrutinised them closely. Not meeting any sufficient
response, he went on:-
"Is it possible that I have erred in my supposition?"
"You have," I said frankly, but at the same time, as
I felt, brutally. There was a considerable pause, and then he said
slowly:-
"Then I Suppose I must only shift my ground of request.
Let me ask for this concession- boon, privilege, what you will. I am
content to implore in such a case, not on personal grounds, but for
the sake of others. I am not at liberty to give you the whole of my
reasons; but you may, I assure you, take it from me that they are good
ones, sound and unselfish, and springing from the highest sense of
duty. Could you look, sir, into my heart, you would approve to the
full the sentiments which animate me. Nay, more, you would count me
amongst the best and truest of your friends." Again he looked at
us all keenly. I had a growing conviction that this sudden change of
his entire intellectual method was but yet another form or phase of
his madness, and so determined to let him go on a little longer,
knowing from experience that he would, like all lunatics, give himself
away in the end. Van Helsing was gazing at him with a look of the
utmost intensity, his bushy eyebrows almost meeting with the fixed
concentration of his look. He said to Renfield in a tone which did not
surprise me at the time, but only when I thought of it afterwards- for
it was as of one addressing an equal:-
"Can you not tell frankly your real reason for wishing to
be free to-night? I will undertake that if you will satisfy even me- a
stranger, without prejudice, and with the habit of keeping an open
mind- Dr. Seward will give you, at his own risk and on his own
responsibility, the privilege you seek." He shook his head sadly,
and with a look of poignant regret on his face. The Professor went
on:-
"Come, sir, bethink yourself. You claim the privilege of
reason in the highest degree, since you seek to impress us with your
complete reasonableness. You do this, whose sanity we have reason to
doubt, since you are not yet released from medical treatment for this
very defect. If you will not help us in our effort to choose the
wisest course, how can we perform the duty which you yourself put upon
us? Be wise, and help us; and if we can we shall aid you to achieve
your wish." He still shook his head as he said:-
"Dr. Van Helsing, I have nothing to say. Your argument is
complete, and if I were free to speak I should not hesitate a moment;
but I am not my own master in the matter. I can only ask you to trust
me. If I am refused, the responsibility does not rest with me." I
thought it was now time to end the scene, which was becoming too
comically grave, so I went towards the door, simply saying:-
"Come, my friends, we have work to do. Good-night."
As, however, I got near the door, a new change came over the
patient. He moved towards me so quickly that for the moment I feared
that he was about to make another homicidal attack. My fears, however,
were groundless, for he held up his two hands imploringly, and made
his petition in a moving manner. As he saw that the very excess of his
emotion was militating against him, by restoring us more to our old
relations, he became still more demonstrative. I glanced at Van
Helsing, and saw my conviction reflected in his eyes; so I became a
little more fixed in my manner, if not more stern, and motioned to him
that his efforts were unavailing. I had previously seen something of
the same constantly growing excitement in him when he had to make some
request of which at the time he had thought much, such, for instance,
as when he wanted a cat; and I was prepared to see the collapse into
the same sullen acquiescence on this occasion. My expectation was not
realised, for, when he found that his appeal would not be successful,
he got into quite a frantic condition. He threw himself on his knees,
and held up his hands, wringing them in plaintive supplication, and
poured forth a torrent of entreaty, with the tear's rolling down his
cheeks and his whole face and form expressive of the deepest emotion:-
"Let me entreat you. Dr. Seward, oh, let me implore you to
let me out of this house at once. Send me away how you will and where
you will; send keepers with me with whips and chains; let them take me
in a strait-waistcoat, manacled and leg-ironed, even to a goal; but
let me go out of this. You don't know what you do by keeping me here.
I am speaking from the depths of my heart- of my very soul.
You don't know whom you wrong, or how; and I may not tell. Woe
is me! I may not tell. By all you hold sacred- by all you hold dear-
by your love that is lost- by your hope that lives- for the sake of
the Almighty, take me out of this and save my soul from guilt! Can't
you hear me, man? Can't you understand? Will you never learn? Don't
you know that I am sane and earnest now; that I am no lunatic in a mad
fit, but a sane man fighting for his soul? Oh, hear me! hear me! Let
me go! let me go! let me go!"
I thought that the longer this went on the wilder he would get,
and so would bring on a fit; so I took him by the hand and raised him
up.
"Come," I said sternly, "no more of this; we
have had quite enough already. Get to your bed and try to behave more
discreetly."
He suddenly stopped and looked at me intently for several
moments. Then, without a
word, he rose and moving over, sat down on the side of the bed. The
collapse had come, as on former occasion, just as I had expected.
When I was leaving the room, last of our party, he said to me
in a quiet, well-bred voice:-
"You will, I trust, Dr. Seward, do me the justice to bear
in mind, later on, that I did what I could to convince you
to-night."
