| Death had given back part of her beauty, for her... 689 |
[Jan. 26th, 2010|11:52 am] |
Death had given back part of her beauty, for her brow and cheeks had recovered some of their flowing linesEven the lips had lost their deadly pallorIt was as if the blood, no longer needed for the working of the heart, had gone to make the harshness of death as little rude as might be
"We thought her dying whilst she slept, and sleeping when she died
I stood beside Van Helsing, and said, "Ah well, poor girl, there is peace for her at lastIt is the end!"
He turned to me, and said with grave solemnity, "Not so, alas! Not soIt is only the beginning!"
When I asked him what he meant, he only shook his head and answered, "We can do nothing as yet
CHAPTER 13
DRSEWARD'S DIARY--cont
The funeral was arranged for the next succeeding day, so that Lucy and her mother might be buried togetherI attended to all the ghastly formalities, and the urbane undertaker proved that his staff was afflicted, or blessed, with something of his own obsequious suavityEven the woman who performed the last offices for the dead remarked to me, in a confidential, brother-professional way, when she had come out from the death chamber,
"She makes a very beautiful corpse, sirIt's quite a privilege to attend on herIt's not too much to say that she will do credit to our establishment!"
I noticed that Van Helsing never kept far awayThis was possible from the disordered state of things in the householdThere were no relatives at hand, and as Arthur had to be back the next day to attend at his father's funeral, we were unable to notify any one who should have been biddenUnder the circumstances, Van Helsing and I took it upon ourselves to examine papers, etcHe insisted upon looking over Lucy's papers himselfI asked him why, for I feared that he, being a foreigner, might not be quite aware of English legal requirements, and so might in ignorance make some unnecessary trouble
He answered me, "I know, I knowYou forget that I am a lawyer as well as a doctorBut this is not altogether for the lawYou knew that, when you avoided the coronerI have more than him to avoidThere may be papers more, such as this
As he spoke he took from his pocket book the memorandum which had been in Lucy's breast, and which she had torn in her sleep
"When you find anything of the solicitor who is for the late MrsWestenra, seal all her papers, and write him tonightFor me, I watch here in the room and in Miss Lucy's old room all night, and I myself search for what may beIt is not well that her very thoughts go into the hands of strangers
I went on with my part of the work, and in another half hour had found the name and address of MrsWestenra's solicitor and had written to himAll the poor lady's papers were in orderExplicit directions regarding the place of burial were givenI had hardly sealed the letter, when, to my surprise, Van Helsing walked into the room, saying,
"Can I help you friend John? I am free, and if I may, my service is to you
"Have you got what you looked for?" I asked
To which he replied, "I did not look for any specific thingI only hoped to find, and find I have, all that there was, only some letters and a few memoranda, and a diary new begunBut I have them here, and we shall for the present say nothing of themI shall see that poor lad tomorrow evening, and, with his sanction, I shall use |
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