text stringlengths 0 73 |
|---|
He did not remain long, but said he would look in later in the day and |
see Lord Godalming. His coming, however, had been a certain comfort to |
us, since it assured us that we should not have to dread hostile |
criticism as to any of our acts. Arthur was expected at five o'clock, so |
a little before that time we visited the death-chamber. It was so in |
very truth, for now both mother and daughter lay in it. The undertaker, |
true to his craft, had made the best display he could of his goods, and |
there was a mortuary air about the place that lowered our spirits at |
once. Van Helsing ordered the former arrangement to be adhered to, |
explaining that, as Lord Godalming was coming very soon, it would be |
less harrowing to his feelings to see all that was left of his _fiancée_ |
quite alone. The undertaker seemed shocked at his own stupidity and |
exerted himself to restore things to the condition in which we left them |
the night before, so that when Arthur came such shocks to his feelings |
as we could avoid were saved. |
Poor fellow! He looked desperately sad and broken; even his stalwart |
manhood seemed to have shrunk somewhat under the strain of his |
much-tried emotions. He had, I knew, been very genuinely and devotedly |
attached to his father; and to lose him, and at such a time, was a |
bitter blow to him. With me he was warm as ever, and to Van Helsing he |
was sweetly courteous; but I could not help seeing that there was some |
constraint with him. The Professor noticed it, too, and motioned me to |
bring him upstairs. I did so, and left him at the door of the room, as I |
felt he would like to be quite alone with her, but he took my arm and |
led me in, saying huskily:-- |
"You loved her too, old fellow; she told me all about it, and there was |
no friend had a closer place in her heart than you. I don't know how to |
thank you for all you have done for her. I can't think yet...." |
Here he suddenly broke down, and threw his arms round my shoulders and |
laid his head on my breast, crying:-- |
"Oh, Jack! Jack! What shall I do! The whole of life seems gone from me |
all at once, and there is nothing in the wide world for me to live for." |
I comforted him as well as I could. In such cases men do not need much |
expression. A grip of the hand, the tightening of an arm over the |
shoulder, a sob in unison, are expressions of sympathy dear to a man's |
heart. I stood still and silent till his sobs died away, and then I said |
softly to him:-- |
"Come and look at her." |
Together we moved over to the bed, and I lifted the lawn from her face. |
God! how beautiful she was. Every hour seemed to be enhancing her |
loveliness. It frightened and amazed me somewhat; and as for Arthur, he |
fell a-trembling, and finally was shaken with doubt as with an ague. At |
last, after a long pause, he said to me in a faint whisper:-- |
"Jack, is she really dead?" |
I assured him sadly that it was so, and went on to suggest--for I felt |
that such a horrible doubt should not have life for a moment longer than |
I could help--that it often happened that after death faces became |
softened and even resolved into their youthful beauty; that this was |
especially so when death had been preceded by any acute or prolonged |
suffering. It seemed to quite do away with any doubt, and, after |
kneeling beside the couch for a while and looking at her lovingly and |
long, he turned aside. I told him that that must be good-bye, as the |
coffin had to be prepared; so he went back and took her dead hand in his |
and kissed it, and bent over and kissed her forehead. He came away, |
fondly looking back over his shoulder at her as he came. |
I left him in the drawing-room, and told Van Helsing that he had said |
good-bye; so the latter went to the kitchen to tell the undertaker's men |
to proceed with the preparations and to screw up the coffin. When he |
came out of the room again I told him of Arthur's question, and he |
replied:-- |
"I am not surprised. Just now I doubted for a moment myself!" |
We all dined together, and I could see that poor Art was trying to make |
the best of things. Van Helsing had been silent all dinner-time; but |
when we had lit our cigars he said-- |
"Lord----"; but Arthur interrupted him:-- |
"No, no, not that, for God's sake! not yet at any rate. Forgive me, sir: |
I did not mean to speak offensively; it is only because my loss is so |
recent." |
The Professor answered very sweetly:-- |
"I only used that name because I was in doubt. I must not call you |
'Mr.,' and I have grown to love you--yes, my dear boy, to love you--as |
Arthur." |
Arthur held out his hand, and took the old man's warmly. |
"Call me what you will," he said. "I hope I may always have the title of |
a friend. And let me say that I am at a loss for words to thank you for |
your goodness to my poor dear." He paused a moment, and went on: "I know |
that she understood your goodness even better than I do; and if I was |
rude or in any way wanting at that time you acted so--you remember"--the |
Professor nodded--"you must forgive me." |
He answered with a grave kindness:-- |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.