| He raised his hands over his head in a sort of... 377 |
[Jan. 27th, 2010|02:07 am] |
He raised his hands over his head in a sort of mute despair, and then beat his palms together in a helpless wayFinally he sat down on a chair, and putting his hands before his face, began to sob, with loud, dry sobs that seemed to come from the very racking of his heart
Then he raised his arms again, as though appealing to the whole universe"God! God! God!" he said"What have we done, what has this poor thing done, that we are so sore beset? Is there fate amongst us still, send down from the pagan world of old, that such things must be, and in such way? This poor mother, all unknowing, and all for the best as she think, does such thing as lose her daughter body and soul, and we must not tell her, we must not even warn her, or she die, then both dieOh, how we are beset! How are all the powers of the devils against us!"
Suddenly he jumped to his feet"Come," he said, "come, we must see and actDevils or no devils, or all the devils at once, it matters notWe must fight him all the same He went to the hall door for his bag, and together we went up to Lucy's room
Once again I drew up the blind, whilst Van Helsing went towards the bedThis time he did not start as he looked on the poor face with the same awful, waxen pallor as beforeHe wore a look of stern sadness and infinite pity
"As I expected," he murmured, with that hissing inspiration of his which meant so muchWithout a word he went and locked the door, and then began to set out on the little table the instruments for yet another operation of transfusion of bloodI had long ago recognized the necessity, and begun to take off my coat, but he stopped me with a warning hand"Today you must operateYou are weakened already As he spoke he took off his coat and rolled up his shirtsleeve
Again the operationAgain some return of colour to the ashy cheeks, and the regular breathing of healthy sleepThis time I watched whilst Van Helsing recruited himself and rested
Presently he took an opportunity of telling MrsWestenra that she must not remove anything from Lucy's room without consulting himThat the flowers were of medicinal value, and that the breathing of their odour was a part of the system of cureThen he took over the care of the case himself, saying that he would watch this night and the next, and would send me word when to come
After another hour Lucy waked from her sleep, fresh and bright and seemingly not much the worse for her terrible ordeal
What does it all mean? I am beginning to wonder if my long habit of life amongst the insane is beginning to tell upon my own brain
LUCY WESTENRA'S DIARY
17 September-Four days and nights of peaceI am getting so strong again that I hardly know myselfIt is as if I had passed through some long nightmare, and had just awakened to see the beautiful sunshine and feel the fresh air of the morning around meI have a dim half remembrance of long, anxious times of waiting and fearing, darkness in which there was not even the pain of hope to make present distress more poignantAnd then long spells of oblivion, and the rising back to life as a diver coming up through a great press of waterVan Helsing has been with me, all this bad dreaming seems to have passed awayThe noises that used to frighten me out of my wits, the flapping against the windows, the distant voices which seemed so close to me, the harsh sounds that came from I know not where and commanded me to do I know not what, have all ceasedI go to bed now without any fear of sleepI do not even try to keep awakeI have grown quite fond of the garlic, and a boxful arrives for me every day from HaarlemVan Helsing is going away, as he has to be for a day in |
|
|
