Miss Lucy is dead; is it not so? Yes! Then there can be no wrong to
her. But if she be not dead----
Arthur jumped to his feet.
Good God! he cried. What do you mean? Has there been any mistake; has
she been buried alive? He groaned in anguish that not even hope could
soften.
I did not say she was alive, my child; I did not think it. I go no
further than to say that she might be Un-Dead.
Un-Dead! Not alive! What do you mean? Is this all a nightmare, or what
is it?
There are mysteries which men can only guess at, which age by age they
may solve only in part. Believe me, we are now on the verge of one. But
I have not done. May I cut off the head of dead Miss Lucy?
Heavens and earth, no! cried Arthur in a storm of passion. Not for
the wide world will I consent to any mutilation of her dead body. Dr.
Van Helsing, you try me too far. What have I done to you that you should
torture me so? What did that poor, sweet girl do that you should want to
cast such dishonour on her grave? Are you mad to speak such things, or
am I mad to listen to them? Don t dare to think more of such a
desecration; I shall not give my consent to anything you do. I have a
duty to do in protecting her grave from outrage; and, by God, I shall do
it!
Van Helsing rose up from where he had all the time been seated, and
said, gravely and sternly:--
My Lord Godalming, I, too, have a duty to do, a duty to others, a duty
to you, a duty to the dead; and, by God, I shall do it! All I ask you
now is that you come with me, that you look and listen; and if when
later I make the same request you do not be more eager for its
fulfilment even than I am, then--then I shall do my duty, whatever it
may seem to me. And then, to follow of your Lordship s wishes I shall
hold myself at your disposal to render an account to you, when and where
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