text stringlengths 0 73 |
|---|
afflicted--or blessed--with something of his own obsequious suavity. |
Even 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, sir. It's quite a privilege to |
attend on her. It's not too much to say that she will do credit to our |
establishment!" |
I noticed that Van Helsing never kept far away. This was possible from |
the disordered state of things in the household. There 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 |
bidden. Under the circumstances, Van Helsing and I took it upon |
ourselves to examine papers, etc. He insisted upon looking over Lucy's |
papers himself. I 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 know. You forget that I am a lawyer as well as a doctor. But |
this is not altogether for the law. You knew that, when you avoided the |
coroner. I have more than him to avoid. There 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 Mrs. |
Westenra, seal all her papers, and write him to-night. For me, I watch |
here in the room and in Miss Lucy's old room all night, and I myself |
search for what may be. It 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 Mrs. Westenra's solicitor and had written to |
him. All the poor lady's papers were in order; explicit directions |
regarding the place of burial were given. I 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 thing. I only hoped to find, and find I |
have, all that there was--only some letters and a few memoranda, and a |
diary new begun. But I have them here, and we shall for the present say |
nothing of them. I shall see that poor lad to-morrow evening, and, with |
his sanction, I shall use some." |
When we had finished the work in hand, he said to me:-- |
"And now, friend John, I think we may to bed. We want sleep, both you |
and I, and rest to recuperate. To-morrow we shall have much to do, but |
for the to-night there is no need of us. Alas!" |
Before turning in we went to look at poor Lucy. The undertaker had |
certainly done his work well, for the room was turned into a small |
_chapelle ardente_. There was a wilderness of beautiful white flowers, |
and death was made as little repulsive as might be. The end of the |
winding-sheet was laid over the face; when the Professor bent over and |
turned it gently back, we both started at the beauty before us, the tall |
wax candles showing a sufficient light to note it well. All Lucy's |
loveliness had come back to her in death, and the hours that had passed, |
instead of leaving traces of "decay's effacing fingers," had but |
restored the beauty of life, till positively I could not believe my eyes |
that I was looking at a corpse. |
The Professor looked sternly grave. He had not loved her as I had, and |
there was no need for tears in his eyes. He said to me: "Remain till I |
return," and left the room. He came back with a handful of wild garlic |
from the box waiting in the hall, but which had not been opened, and |
placed the flowers amongst the others on and around the bed. Then he |
took from his neck, inside his collar, a little gold crucifix, and |
placed it over the mouth. He restored the sheet to its place, and we |
came away. |
I was undressing in my own room, when, with a premonitory tap at the |
door, he entered, and at once began to speak:-- |
"To-morrow I want you to bring me, before night, a set of post-mortem |
knives." |
"Must we make an autopsy?" I asked. |
"Yes and no. I want to operate, but not as you think. Let me tell you |
now, but not a word to another. I want to cut off her head and take out |
her heart. Ah! you a surgeon, and so shocked! You, whom I have seen with |
no tremble of hand or heart, do operations of life and death that make |
the rest shudder. Oh, but I must not forget, my dear friend John, that |
you loved her; and I have not forgotten it, for it is I that shall |
operate, and you must only help. I would like to do it to-night, but for |
Arthur I must not; he will be free after his father's funeral to-morrow, |
and he will want to see her--to see _it_. Then, when she is coffined |
ready for the next day, you and I shall come when all sleep. We shall |
unscrew the coffin-lid, and shall do our operation: and then replace |
all, so that none know, save we alone." |
"But why do it at all? The girl is dead. Why mutilate her poor body |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.