Let me begin with facts, bare, meager facts

12 May.--Let me begin with facts, bare, meager facts, verified by books and figures, and of which there can be no doubt. I must not confuse them with experiences which will have to rest on my own observation, or my memory of them. Last evening when the Count came from his room he began by asking me questions on legal matters and on the doing of certain kinds of business. I had spent the day wearily over books, and, simply to keep my mind occupied, went over some of the matters I had been examined in at Lincoln's Inn.  There was a certain method in the Count's inquiries, so I shall try to put them down in sequence. The knowledge may somehow or some time be useful to me.

First, he asked if a man in England might have two solicitors or more. I told him he might have a dozen if he wished, but that it would not be wise to have more than one solicitor engaged in one transaction, as only one could act at a time, and that to change would be certain to militate against his interest. He seemed thoroughly to understand, and went on to ask if there would be any practical difficulty in having one man to attend, say, to banking, and another to look after shipping, in case local help were needed in a place far from the home of the banking solicitor. I asked to explain more fully, so that I might not by any chance mislead him, so he said,

"I shall illustrate. Your friend and mine, Mr. Peter Hawkins, from under the shadow of your beautiful cathedral at Exeter, which is far from London, buys for me through your good self my place at London. Good! Now here let me say frankly, lest you should think it strange that I have sought the services of one so far off from London instead of some one resident there, that my motive was that no local interest might be served save my wish only, and as one of London residence might, perhaps, have some purpose of himself or friend to serve, I went thus afield to seek my agent, whose labours should be only to my interest. Now, suppose I, who have much of affairs, wish to ship goods, say, to Newcastle, or Durham, or Harwich, or Dover, might it not be that it could with more ease be done by consigning to one in these ports?"

I answered that certainly it would be most easy, but that we solicitors had a system of agency one for the other, so that local work could be done locally on instruction from any solicitor, so that the client, simply placing himself in the hands of one man, could have his wishes carried out by him without further trouble.

"But," said he,"I could be at liberty to direct myself. Is it not so?"

"Of course, " I replied, and "Such is often done by men of business, who do not like the whole of their affairs to be known by any one person."

"Good!" he said, and then went on to ask about the means of making consignments and the forms to be gone through, and of all sorts of difficulties which might arise, but by forethought could be guarded against. I explained all these things to him to the best of my ability, and he certainly left me under the impression that he would have made a wonderful solicitor, for there was nothing that he did not think of or foresee. For a man who was never in the country, and who did not evidently do much in the way of business, his knowledge and acumen were wonderful. When he had satisfied himself on these points of which he had spoken, and I had verified all as well as I could by the books available, he suddenly stood up and said, "Have you written since your first letter to our friend Mr. Peter Hawkins, or to any other?"

It was with some bitterness in my heart that I answered that I had not, that as yet I had not seen any opportunity of sending letters to anybody.

"Then write now, my young friend," he said, laying a heavy hand on my shoulder, "write to our friend and to any other, and say, if it will please you, that you shall stay with me until a month from now."

"Do you wish me to stay so long?" I asked, for my heart grew cold at the thought.

"I desire it much, nay I will take no refusal.  When your master, employer, what you will, engaged that someone should come on his behalf, it was understood that my needs only were to be consulted. I have not stinted. Is it not so?"

What could I do but bow acceptance? It was Mr. Hawkins' interest, not mine, and I had to think of him, not myself, and besides, while Count Dracula was speaking, there was that in his eyes and in his bearing which made me remember that I was a prisoner, and that if I wished it I could have no choice. The Count saw his victory in my bow, and his mastery in the trouble of my face, for he began at once to use them, but in his own smooth, resistless way.

"I pray you, my good young friend, that you will not discourse of things other than business in your letters. It will doubtless please your friends to know that you are well, and that you look forward to getting home to them. Is it not so?" As he spoke he handed me three sheets of note paper and three envelopes. They were all of the thinnest foreign post, and looking at them, then at him, and noticing his quiet smile, with the sharp, canine teeth lying over the red underlip, I understood as well as if he had spoken that I should be more careful what I wrote, for he would be able to read it. So I determined to write only formal notes now, but to write fully to Mr. Hawkins in secret, and also to Mina, for to her I could write shorthand, which would puzzle the Count, if he did see it. When I had written my two letters I sat quiet, reading a book whilst the Count wrote several notes, referring as he wrote them to some books on his table. Then he took up my two and placed them with his own, and put by his writing materials, after which, the instant the door had closed behind him, I leaned over and looked at the letters, which were face down on the table.  I felt no compunction in doing so for under the circumstances I felt that I should protect myself in every way I could.

One of the letters was directed to Samuel F.Billington , No. 7, The Crescent, Whitby, another to Herr Leutner, Varna.  The third was to Coutts & Co., London, and the fourth to Herren Klopstock & Billreuth, bankers, Buda Pesth. The second and fourth were unsealed. I was just about to look at them when I saw the door handle move.  I sank back in my seat, having just had time to resume my book before the Count, holding still another letter in his hand, entered the room. He took up the letters on the table and stamped them carefully, and then turning to me, said,

"I trust you will forgive me, but I have much work to do in private this evening. You will, I hope, find all things as you wish." At the door he turned, and after a moment's pause said, "Let me advise you, my dear young friend. Nay, let me warn you with all seriousness, that should you leave these rooms you will not by any chance go to sleep in any other part of the castle. It is old, and has many memories, and there are bad dreams for those who sleep unwisely. Be warned! Should sleep now or ever overcome you, or be like to do, then haste to your own chamber or to these rooms, for your rest will then be safe. But if you be not careful in this respect, then," He finished his speech in a gruesome way, for he motioned with his hands as if he were washing them. I quite understood. My only doubt was as to whether any dream could be more terrible than the unnatural, horrible net of gloom and mystery which seemed closing around me.

Comments

[David40]

So now we know for certain that Jonathan and Mina live in Exeter.

This is an interesting passage. It initially focuses on Dracula's potential need for multiple attorneys and his desire that his lawyers serve his needs only (rather than a local favor). Dracula seems very concerned on this point, and it is a bit unclear what his motives are. Presumably once the sale takes place it shouldn't matter which particular palms were greased. Despite Dracula's claim to have 'much of affairs', it actually seems unlikely that Dracula will be doing much business (of a legal nature) once he arrives--so his concerns about understanding the details seem a little unclear. Perhaps, given Dracula's known 'eccentricities', which are likely to become known to any firm handling his real estate transactions, are things Dracula wants to keep as secret as possible. He doesn't want a local law firm poking around the neighborhood out of curiosity once he arrives.

Still, one is left with the sense that Dracula has bigger plans, not fully explained. Will those plans be explained later in the book?

Dracula's motive for requesting the various letters from Jonathan, and the time frame of a month--seem clear enough. If something unexpected were to befall Jonathan, Dracula wants to keep a cloud of uncertainty surrounding Jonathan for as long as possible. Dracula probably does not have any direct designs on Jonathan--there seems to be a perverse form of heterosexuality surrounding vampirism--but is happy to leave Jonathan to some difficult fate simply because Jonathan knows too much. This may also provide some explanation for Dracula's inquiries about the lawyers. If Jonathan--after finishing his duties--meets some unpleasant fate in the castle, and Dracula is careful regarding the plans for receiving goods, he may be able to take possession of his new estate without ever having personally met any of his surviving attorneys. This is probably Dracula's goal.

The final part of this passage--where Dracula alludes to safety for Jonathan within, but only within, his own rooms--is interesting. One has the impression of a castle that is ordinarily completely and totally dead. Somehow, though Dracula has created some kind of a temporary sense of home--of life--however rudimentary, within Jonathan's rooms. It is interesting to me how he might be able to do this--how Dracula can afford Jonathan any kind of protection at all seems odd given what Dracula is.

[Baby Jinx]

"So now we know for certain that Jonathan and Mina live in Exeter."

Well, Jonathan anyway. Mina is living at a school where she has a post as assistant schoolmistress (we learned this in Mina's letter to Lucy, dated 9 May). Whether or not Mina's school is in Exeter, we don't know. It probably doesn't make any difference anyway. It appears that Lucy lives in or near London, as she mentions (in the one letter that's been posted) being called upon several times by a man with "an immense lunatic asylum all under his own care." That can only be Dr Seward, and he lives next to Carfax Abbey which, as we've seen in Dracula's talks with Jonathan, is in the Purfleet area (east London IIRC).

[Elizabeth]

"he lives next to Carfax Abbey..."

Can't resist, BJ. There is no such place as "Carfax Abbey" in Stoker's novel.It is just "Carfax." "Carfax Abbey" is an invention of the Balderston/Deane play/movie script of the 1920s.

Lucy's letter was sent from Chatham Street, located in Walworth (south London).

As for Purfleet, it is (strictly speaking) not "east London". It is in the county of Essex, about 20 miles east of London, on the north bank of the Thames.

[Baby Jinx]

"Can't resist, BJ. There is no such place as 'Carfax Abbey'"

I knew that :) Just goes to show how deeply ingrained are some of those errors, even amongst we who think we know a lot about the novel.

[Elizabeth]

David: re the lawyers

Stoker certainly belabors the issue of lawyers. That may be in part because in 1890, the year he started working on the novel, he was called to the Bar. While he did not actually practice (as far as we know), he seems to have taken delight in showing off his legal knowledge.

One could question Harker's ethics, though. He admits that he was just about to look at two of Dracula's unsealed letters when the Count came in. We shall see many such examples of questionable ethical practices as the story progresses.

And I thought lawyers were always ethical!!! :)

[Baby Jinx]

"And I thought lawyers were always ethical!!!"

I have to wonder whether Dracula might have left those letters lying there with the expressed purpose of letting Jonathan see them?

[David40]

"We shall see many such examples of questionable ethical practices as the story progresses."

The fact that we are reading it at all makes everything we have read so far, with the exception of Mina's and Lucy's letters, a violation of attorney-client privilege :) .

[Baby Jinx]

"One could question Harker's ethics, though. He admits that he was just about to look at two of Dracula's unsealed letters when the Count came in."

I must admit that my legal training amounts to whatever I've learned from watching "People's Court", but I can cut Jonathan some slack for thinking of peeking at the Count's letters, considering that Jonathan feels his life is in danger. Under the circumstances, I'm sure that I would try to learn everything I could, on the supposition that something learned might be the hinge on which I live or die.

[EMMA ODOMCWELL]

I BELIVE IN U MR/MRS DRACULA BUT I AM IN LOVE!!!!!

[EMMA ODOMCWELL]

I BELIVE IN U MR/MRS DRACULA BUT I AM IN LOVE!!!!!