| ARTHUR HOLMWOOD
3 September
"My dear Art,... 640 |
[Jan. 30th, 2010|02:31 am] |
ARTHUR HOLMWOOD
3 September
"My dear Art,
"Van Helsing has come and goneHe came on with me to Hillingham, and found that, by Lucy's discretion, her mother was lunching out, so that we were alone with her
"Van Helsing made a very careful examination of the patientHe is to report to me, and I shall advise you, for of course I was not present all the timeHe is, I fear, much concerned, but says he must thinkWhen I told him of our friendship and how you trust to me in the matter, he said, 'You must tell him all you thinkTell him what I think, if you can guess it, if you willNay, I am not jestingThis is no jest, but life and death, perhaps more' I asked what he meant by that, for he was very seriousThis was when we had come back to town, and he was having a cup of tea before starting on his return to AmsterdamHe would not give me any further clueYou must not be angry with me, Art, because his very reticence means that all his brains are working for her goodHe will speak plainly enough when the time comes, be sureSo I told him I would simply write an account of our visit, just as if I were doing a descriptive special article for THE DAILY TELEGRAPHHe seemed not to notice, but remarked that the smuts of London were not quite so bad as they used to be when he was a student hereI am to get his report tomorrow if he can possibly make itIn any case I am to have a letter
"Well, as to the visit, Lucy was more cheerful than on the day I first saw her, and certainly looked betterShe had lost something of the ghastly look that so upset you, and her breathing was normalShe was very sweet to the Professor (as she always is), and tried to make him feel at ease, though I could see the poor girl was making a hard struggle for it
"I believe Van Helsing saw it, too, for I saw the quick look under his bushy brows that I knew of oldThen he began to chat of all things except ourselves and diseases and with such an infinite geniality that I could see poor Lucy's pretense of animation merge into realityThen, without any seeming change, he brought the conversation gently round to his visit, and suavely said,
"'My dear young miss, I have the so great pleasure because you are so much belovedThat is much, my dear, even were there that which I do not seeThey told me you were down in the spirit, and that you were of a ghastly paleTo them I say "Pouf!"' And he snapped his fingers at me and went on'But you and I shall show them how wrong they areHow can he,' and he pointed at me with the same look and gesture as that with which he pointed me out in his class, on, or rather after, a particular occasion which he never fails to remind me of, 'know anything of a young ladies? He has his madmen to play with, and to bring them back to happiness, and to those that love themIt is much to do, and, oh, but there are rewards in that we can bestow such happinessBut the young ladies! He has no wife nor daughter, and the young do not tell themselves to the young, but to the old, like me, who have known so many sorrows and the causes of themSo, my dear, we will send him away to smoke the cigarette in the garden, whiles you and I have little talk all to ourselves' I took the hint, and strolled about, and presently the professor came to the window and called me inHe looked grave, but said, 'I have made careful examination, but there is no functional causeWith you I agree that there has been much blood lost, it has been but is notBut the conditions of her are in no way anemicI have asked her to send me her maid, that I may ask just one or two questions, that so I may not chance to miss nothingI know well what she will sayAnd yet there is causeThere is always cause for |
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