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Some minutes later, Dracula came in and ordered us to go to the chapel with him.
'Make them understand,' he said with a callousness that chilled me, 'that their heroic
attempt to rescue you is ill-conceived. If they try again, the child will die.'
How desperate and sorrowful were their faces -Jonathan's, Van Helsing's and Dr
Seward's - and how it pained me to tell them, 'Go!'
Then something extraordinary happened. A man appeared from nowhere - that is, I
didn't see where he came from - and attacked the Count. This man seemed familiar,
although I could not place him; it was too dark to see clearly. He was gaunt, with thick
silver-grey hair; I was unsure whether he was man or vampire! Dracula knocked him
back.
The next I knew, Dracula was lifting Quincey and myself bodily and thrusting us into
the darkness of a tomb.
I cried out to no avail. When the heavy marble lid slid into place above my head I was
terrified. I struck the lid, shouting, but I could hear not a word from outside.
Quincey and I were cut off from all contact, in utter blackness. A dreadful terror
overcame me; I hope I never experience its like again. All that kept me from screaming
and beating my fists against the stone was my son. For his sake I must keep calm.
He must have noticed me trembling, however, and felt the pounding of my heart.
Strangely - because he is so young, I assume - he didn't seem frightened at all. His little
body was warm and relaxed against mine. I tried to frame some light-hearted phrase
about this being only a game. He replied in an eerily calm tone, 'Don't worry, Mama.
Don't be afraid. The darkness can't hurt you, while I am with you.'
I tried not to think of what it would be like to die here; to lie in the darkness, day after
day, until we both slowly expired. Or to die and rise again without a soul, with only thirst
for the blood of my loved ones to animate me .. . This seemed almost a comforting idea,
soft and sweet as sleep .. .
After a passage of time that seemed unending, I heard the lid scraping back. Quincey
had fallen asleep by then. Dracula helped us out; I was too shaken to express anger,
relief, anything. He took Quincey in one arm and helped me with the other. I was weak
with shock, but Dracula appeared forbidding, unassailable.
Jonathan and the others were gone. Dracula says they left without harm; I don't know
whether to believe him or not. At least Quincey seems none the worse for his ordeal. We
returned to my room - our prison cell, I should say, in the keep. I didn't see Elena.
Dracula himself brought us tea and brandy to revive us. Quincey was soon sleeping
peacefully on my bed with the abandonment of a child, his mouth open and his curled
hands flung behind his head.
Then Dracula sat by me at the fireside. It took all my strength to regain my dignity and
to keep hidden from him how afraid I had been. 'You must forgive me, Mrs Harker,' he
said quite gently. 'I could not risk you being snatched away by your so-loyal husband and
friends, nor risk you running away. You would have been in danger from the dogs."
'The dogs!' I gasped. His gentleness seemed a mockery. 'You were protecting us from
those savage hounds? You need not have been so solicitous.'
'Then I beg your pardon. But there may come a time when the tomb holds no such
horrors for you.'
'No, for when I die I shall rest in peace.'
He smiled a little, and his eyes glittered. 'I fail to see why your menfolk can never take
me at my word. I warn them not to follow; they follow, as if they can never let anything
rest until they have proved themselves fools.'
'Were any of diem harmed?'
'Not to my knowledge. They left the way they had come.'
'And the other man who was there?'
Dracula looked away from me, as if he were troubled, but trying to seem indifferent.
'He is of no importance. I will tell you all in time; not now.'
'But what if they try again? I know them; they won't just leave me here! Promise me
you will not harm them! There is no need, surely!'
I wished I had not spoken. His dark, haughty eyes rested upon me, half mocking and
half tender. 'I can make no such promise. If they do nothing foolish, they will be safe, but
that seems unlikely. Or if... ah, what will you give me in return for such a promise,
Mina?'
I felt myself blushing. 'You have had my blood. I have nothing else to offer.'
'Not true,' he said. 'There is still your soul, your love, your loyalty and company in this
long twilight of loneliness. You know what I want.' A pang went through me.
'Me, to use against your enemies!'
'Ah, far more than that.'
'If you kill me,' I said, breathless, 'and I become like you, Van Helsing and the others
will destroy me without hesitation, rather than let me fall to evil. Be assured that they will
find me, and that you will lose me!'
'You are so eager to surrender to God, to martyrdom. Why not defy Him a little? If He
loves sinners, I must be among His favourites.' The Count leaned forward and took my
hands. His touch was light, yet I recoiled a little. 'Always you flinch when I come near
you. Is this with fear or pleasure - perhaps fear of pleasure? You have no need to fear me,
Mina. I have done my worst.'
'Truly, I am sure you have not. I want to go home. Let us go and I will ensure that Van
Helsing and the others leave you in peace!'
'But will I leave them in peace?'
'I would have thought you too proud to sink to such vindictiveness. It seems ignoble.'
'I have never shown my enemies any mercy, beloved. I have always harried diem to
the very end. I am too old to change my habits.'
'Surely not.'
'Don't imagine you can change me.'
'I don't care to change you,' I retorted. 'My concern is to protect those I love. I have no
concern for you whatsoever.'
'You lie charmingly. Even for the Devil himself, you feel some sorrow, some pity.'
'Then I confess. Of us all, I think you are the saddest.'
My defiance only made him smile. 'And you, Mina, cannot understand why you are so
drawn to me. You know me better than you know your husband. He recoils from your
passion, does he not, and speaks of madness and cure - but I accept all that you are, dark
and light.'
Everything he said was true. Yes, I fear him, I despise him, but the fear and the despite
are almost a habit, that I have to keep stoking up or else I forget to feel them. But this is
the lulling influence of evil at work!
As we talked, I became aware of dogs barking and howling under the window. 'What's
that?' I said, starting up.
'Nothing,' he said with a dismissive gesture. 'My helpers inform me of their presence,
that is all. They remind us that no one may come in or go out without my authority.'
I made no reply, but my spirits dropped even lower. There was no hope of escape or
deliverance. Dracula regarded me as if he knew what I was thinking.
'Mina, have you thought upon what I asked you?'
'I have. My answer is no.'
He sighed. 'As always you follow your morals, not your heart.'
'You are mistaken to think that they differ.'
'Very well, we will talk of something else.' He leaned towards me and spoke softly.
'Consider your son. He is a beautiful child, but sickly, is he not? His heart and lungs are
weak. He could die at any time. A head cold could take him from you. You do not expect [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]