| Van Helsing insisted on my wearing round my neck,... 377 |
[Jan. 27th, 2010|02:07 am] |
Van Helsing insisted on my wearing round my neck, and tore it away from meFor a second or two she sat up, pointing at the wolf, and there was a strange and horrible gurgling in her throatThen she fell over, as if struck with lightning, and her head hit my forehead and made me dizzy for a moment or two
The room and all round seemed to spin roundI kept my eyes fixed on the window, but the wolf drew his head back, and a whole myriad of little specks seems to come blowing in through the broken window, and wheeling and circling round like the pillar of dust that travellers describe when there is a simoon in the desertI tried to stir, but there was some spell upon me, and dear Mother's poor body, which seemed to grow cold already, for her dear heart had ceased to beat, weighed me down, and I remembered no more for a while
The time did not seem long, but very, very awful, till I recovered consciousness againSomewhere near, a passing bell was tollingThe dogs all round the neighbourhood were howling, and in our shrubbery, seemingly just outside, a nightingale was singingI was dazed and stupid with pain and terror and weakness, but the sound of the nightingale seemed like the voice of my dead mother come back to comfort meThe sounds seemed to have awakened the maids, too, for I could hear their bare feet pattering outside my doorI called to them, and they came in, and when they saw what had happened, and what it was that lay over me on the bed, they screamed outThe wind rushed in through the broken window, and the door slammed toThey lifted off the body of my dear mother, and laid her, covered up with a sheet, on the bed after I had got upThey were all so frightened and nervous that I directed them to go to the dining room and each have a glass of wineThe door flew open for an instant and closed againThe maids shrieked, and then went in a body to the dining room, and I laid what flowers I had on my dear mother's breastWhen they were there I remembered what DrVan Helsing had told me, but I didn't like to remove them, and besides, I would have some of the servants to sit up with me nowI was surprised that the maids did not come backI called them, but got no answer, so I went to the dining room to look for them
My heart sank when I saw what had happenedThey all four lay helpless on the floor, breathing heavilyThe decanter of sherry was on the table half full, but there was a queer, acrid smell aboutI was suspicious, and examined the decanterIt smelt of laudanum, and looking on the sideboard, I found that the bottle which Mother's doctor uses for her--oh! did use--was emptyWhat am I to do? What am I to do? I am back in the room with MotherI cannot leave her, and I am alone, save for the sleeping servants, whom some one has druggedAlone with the dead! I dare not go out, for I can hear the low howl of the wolf through the broken window
The air seems full of specks, floating and circling in the draught from the window, and the lights burn blue and dimWhat am I to do? God shield me from harm this night! I shall hide this paper in my breast, where they shall find it when they come to lay me outMy dear mother gone! It is time that I go tooGoodbye, dear Arthur, if I should not survive this nightGod keep you, dear, and God help me!
CHAPTER 12
DRSEWARD'S DIARY
18 September-I drove at once to Hillingham and arrived earlyKeeping my cab at the gate, I went up the avenue aloneI knocked gently and rang as quietly as possible, for I feared to disturb Lucy or her mother, and hoped to only bring a servant to the doorAfter a while, finding no response, I knocked and rang again, still no answerI cursed the laziness of the servants that they should lie abed at such an hour, for it was now ten o'clock, and so rang and knocked again, but more impatiently, but still without |
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