| Van Helsing, I have nothing to sayYour argument... 296 |
[Jan. 31st, 2010|02:45 am] |
Van Helsing, I have nothing to sayYour 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 matterI can only ask you to trust meIf 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
As, however, I got near the door, a new change came over the patientHe moved towards me so quickly that for the moment I feared that he was about to make another homicidal attackMy fears, however, were groundless, for he held up his two hands imploringly, and made his petition in a moving mannerAs 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 demonstrativeI 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 unavailingI 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 realized, for when he found that his appeal would not be successful, he got into quite a frantic conditionHe threw himself on his knees, and held up his hands, wringing them in plaintive supplication, and poured forth a torrent of entreaty, with the tears rolling down his cheeks, and his whole face and form expressive of the deepest emotion
"Let me entreat you, DrSeward, oh, let me implore you, to let me out of this house at onceSend 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 gaol, but let me go out of thisYou don't know what you do by keeping me hereI am speaking from the depths of my heart, of my very soulYou don't know whom you wrong, or how, and I may not tellWoe is me! I may not tellBy 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 alreadyGet to your bed and try to behave more discreetly
He suddenly stopped and looked at me intently for several momentsThen, without a word, he rose and moving over, sat down on the side of the bedThe collapse had come, as on former occasions, 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, DrSeward, do me the justice to bear in mind, later on, that I did what I could to convince you tonight
CHAPTER 19
JONATHAN HARKER'S JOURNAL
1 October, 5 A-I went with the party to the search with an easy mind, for I think I never saw Mina so absolutely strong and wellI am so glad that she consented to hold back and let us men do the workSomehow, it was a dread to me that she was in this fearful business at all, but now that her work is done, and that it is due to her energy and brains and foresight that the whole story is put together in such a way that every point tells, she may well feel that her part is finished, and that she can henceforth leave the rest to usWe were, I think, all a little upset by the scene with MrWhen we came away from his room we were silent till we got back to the studySeward, "Say, Jack, if that man wasn't attempting a bluff, he is about the sanest lunatic I ever sawI'm not sure, but I believe that he had some serious purpose, and if he had, it was pretty rough on him not to get a chance
Lord Godalming and I were silent, but DrVan Helsing added, "Friend John, you know more lunatics than I do, and I'm glad of it, for I fear that if it had been to me to decide I would before that last hysterical outburst have given him freeBut we live and learn, and in our present task we must take no chance, as my friend Quincey would sayAll is best as they |
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