"stoker-dracula-168" - читать интересную книгу автора (Stoker Bram)

his own motives for it, he would only deceive me if I trusted him
fully with the facts. So far as I can see, my only plan will be to
keep my knowledge and my fears to myself, and my eyes open. I am, I
know, either being deceived, like a baby, by my own fears, or else I
am in desperate straits; and if the latter be so, I need, and shall
need, all my brains to get through.

I had hardly come to this conclusion when I heard the great door
below shut, and knew that the Count had returned. He did not come at
once into the library, so I went cautiously to my own room and found
him making the bed. This was odd, but only confirmed what I had all
along though that there were no servants in the house. When later I
saw him through the chink of the hinges of the door laying the table
in the dining-room, I was assured of it; for if he does himself all
these menial offices, surely it is proof that there is no one else
to do them. This gave me a fright, for if there is no one else in
the castle, it must have been the Count himself who was the driver
of the coach that brought me here. This is a terrible thought; for
if so, what does it mean that he could control the wolves, as he
did, by only holding up his hand in silence. How was it that all the
people at Bistritz and on the coach had some terrible fear for me?
What meant the giving of the crucifix, of the garlic, of the wild
rose, of the mountain ash? Bless that good, good woman who hung the
crucifix round my neck! for it is a comfort and a strength to me
whenever I touch it. It is odd that a thing which I have been taught
to regard with disfavour and as idolatrous should in a time of
loneliness and trouble be of help. Is it that there is something in
the essence of the thing itself, or that it is a medium, a tangible
help, in conveying memories of sympathy and comfort? Some time, if
it may be, I must examine this matter and try to make up my mind about
it. In the meantime I must find out all I can about Count Dracula,
as it may help me to understand. To-night he may talk of himself, if I
turn the conversation that way. I must be very careful, however, not
to awake his suspicion.

Midnight.- I have had a long talk with the Count. I asked him a
few questions on Transylvania history, and he warmed up to the subject
wonderfully. In his speaking of things and people, and especially of
battles, he spoke as if he had been present at them all. This he
afterwards explained by saying that to a boyar the pride of his
house and name is his own pride, that their glory is his glory, that
their fate is his fate. Whenever he spoke of his house he always
said "we," and spoke almost in the plural, like a king speaking. I
wish I could put down all he said exactly as he said it, for to me
it was most fascinating. It seemed to have in it a whole history of
the country. He grew excited as he spoke, and walked about the room
pulling his great white moustache and grasping anything on which he
laid his hands as though he would crush it by main strength. One thing
he said which I shall put down as nearly as I can; for it tells in its
way the story of his race:-