Atlas Nightshade

Day 4

"Welcome to my house. Come freely. Go safely; and leave something of the

happiness you bring!" The strength of the handshake was so much akin to

that which I had noticed in the driver, whose face I had not seen, that

for a moment I doubted if it were not the same person to whom I was

speaking; so to make sure, I said interrogatively:--

"Count Dracula?" He bowed in a courtly way as he replied:--

"I am Dracula; and I bid you welcome, Mr. Harker, to my house. Come in;

the night air is chill, and you must need to eat and rest." As he was

speaking, he put the lamp on a bracket on the wall, and stepping out,

took my luggage; he had carried it in before I could forestall him. I

protested but he insisted:--

"Nay, sir, you are my guest. It is late, and my people are not

available. Let me see to your comfort myself." He insisted on carrying

my traps along the passage, and then up a great winding stair, and

along another great passage, on whose stone floor our steps rang

heavily. At the end of this he threw open a heavy door, and I rejoiced

to see within a well-lit room in which a table was spread for supper,

and on whose mighty hearth a great fire of logs, freshly replenished,

flamed and flared.

The Count halted, putting down my bags, closed the door, and crossing

the room, opened another door, which led into a small octagonal room lit

by a single lamp, and seemingly without a window of any sort. Passing

through this, he opened another door, and motioned me to enter. It was a

welcome sight; for here was a great bedroom well lighted and warmed with

another log fire,--also added to but lately, for the top logs were

fresh--which sent a hollow roar up the wide chimney. The Count himself

left my luggage inside and withdrew, saying, before he closed the

door:--

"You will need, after your journey, to refresh yourself by making your

toilet. I trust you will find all you wish. When you are ready, come

into the other room, where you will find your supper prepared."

The light and warmth and the Count's courteous welcome seemed to have

dissipated all my doubts and fears. Having then reached my normal state,

I discovered that I was half famished with hunger; so making a hasty

toilet, I went into the other room.

I found supper already laid out. My host, who stood on one side of the

great fireplace, leaning against the stonework, made a graceful wave of

his hand to the table, and said:--

"I pray you, be seated and sup how you please. You will, I trust, excuse

me that I do not join you; but I have dined already, and I do not sup."

I handed to him the sealed letter which Mr. Hawkins had entrusted to me.

He opened it and read it gravely; then, with a charming smile, he handed

it to me to read. One passage of it, at least, gave me a thrill of

pleasure.

"I must regret that an attack of gout, from which malady I am a constant

sufferer, forbids absolutely any travelling on my part for some time to

come; but I am happy to say I can send a sufficient substitute, one in

whom I have every possible confidence. He is a young man, full of energy

and talent in his own way, and of a very faithful disposition. He is

discreet and silent, and has grown into manhood in my service. He shall

be ready to attend on you when you will during his stay, and shall take

your instructions in all matters."

The Count himself came forward and took off the cover of a dish, and I

fell to at once on an excellent roast chicken. This, with some cheese

and a salad and a bottle of old Tokay, of which I had two glasses, was

my supper. During the time I was eating it the Count asked me many

questions as to my journey, and I told him by degrees all I had

experienced.

By this time I had finished my supper, and by my host's desire had drawn

up a chair by the fire and begun to smoke a cigar which he offered me,

at the same time excusing himself that he did not smoke. I had now an

opportunity of observing him, and found him of a very marked

physiognomy.

His face was a strong--a very strong--aquiline, with high bridge of the

thin nose and peculiarly arched nostrils; with lofty domed forehead, and

hair growing scantily round the temples but profusely elsewhere. His

eyebrows were very massive, almost meeting over the nose, and with bushy

hair that seemed to curl in its own profusion. The mouth, so far as I

could see it under the heavy moustache, was fixed and rather

cruel-looking, with peculiarly sharp white teeth; these protruded over

the lips, whose remarkable ruddiness showed astonishing vitality in a

man of his years. For the rest, his ears were pale, and at the tops

extremely pointed; the chin was broad and strong, and the cheeks firm

though thin. The general effect was one of extraordinary pallor.

Hitherto I had noticed the backs of his hands as they lay on his knees

in the firelight, and they had seemed rather white and fine; but seeing

them now close to me, I could not but notice that they were rather

coarse--broad, with squat fingers. Strange to say, there were hairs in

the centre of the palm. The nails were long and fine, and cut to a sharp

point. As the Count leaned over me and his hands touched me, I could not

repress a shudder. It may have been that his breath was rank, but a

horrible feeling of nausea came over me, which, do what I would, I could

not conceal. The Count, evidently noticing it, drew back; and with a

grim sort of smile, which showed more than he had yet done his

protuberant teeth, sat himself down again on his own side of the

fireplace. We were both silent for a while; and as I looked towards the

window I saw the first dim streak of the coming dawn. There seemed a

strange stillness over everything; but as I listened I heard as if from

down below in the valley the howling of many wolves. The Count's eyes

gleamed, and he said:--

"Listen to them--the children of the night. What music they make!"

Seeing, I suppose, some expression in my face strange to him, he

added:--

"Ah, sir, you dwellers in the city cannot enter into the feelings of the

hunter." Then he rose and said:--

"But you must be tired. Your bedroom is all ready, and to-morrow you

shall sleep as late as you will. I have to be away till the afternoon;

so sleep well and dream well!" With a courteous bow, he opened for me

himself the door to the octagonal room, and I entered my bedroom....

I am all in a sea of wonders. I doubt; I fear; I think strange things,

which I dare not confess to my own soul. God keep me, if only for the

sake of those dear to me!

* * * * *

_7 May._--It is again early morning, but I have rested and enjoyed the

last twenty-four hours. I slept till late in the day, and awoke of my

own accord. When I had dressed myself I went into the room where we had

supped, and found a cold breakfast laid out, with coffee kept hot by the

pot being placed on the hearth. There was a card on the table, on which

was written:--

"I have to be absent for a while. Do not wait for me.--D." I set to and

enjoyed a hearty meal. When I had done, I looked for a bell, so that I

might let the servants know I had finished; but I could not find one.

There are certainly odd deficiencies in the house, considering the

extraordinary evidences of wealth which are round me. The table service

is of gold, and so beautifully wrought that it must be of immense value.

The curtains and upholstery of the chairs and sofas and the hangings of

my bed are of the costliest and most beautiful fabrics, and must have

been of fabulous value when they were made, for they are centuries old,

though in excellent order. I saw something like them in Hampton Court,

but there they were worn and frayed and moth-eaten. But still in none of

the rooms is there a mirror. There is not even a toilet glass on my

table, and I had to get the little shaving glass from my bag before I

could either shave or brush my hair. I have not yet seen a servant

anywhere, or heard a sound near the castle except the howling of wolves.

Some time after I had finished my meal--I do not know whether to call it

breakfast or dinner, for it was between five and six o'clock when I had

it--I looked about for something to read, for I did not like to go about

the castle until I had asked the Count's permission. There was

absolutely nothing in the room, book, newspaper, or even writing

materials; so I opened another door in the room and found a sort of

library. The door opposite mine I tried, but found it locked.