and he!--I fear I am myself the only living soul within the place. Let
me be prosaic so far as facts can be; it will help me to bear up, and
imagination must not run riot with me. If it does I am lost. Let me say
at once how I stand--or seem to.
I only slept a few hours when I went to bed, and feeling that I could
not sleep any more, got up. I had hung my shaving glass by the window,
and was just beginning to shave. Suddenly I felt a hand on my shoulder,
and heard the Count s voice saying to me, Good-morning. I started, for
it amazed me that I had not seen him, since the reflection of the glass
covered the whole room behind me. In starting I had cut myself slightly,
but did not notice it at the moment. Having answered the Count s
salutation, I turned to the glass again to see how I had been mistaken.
This time there could be no error, for the man was close to me, and I
could see him over my shoulder. But there was no reflection of him in
the mirror! The whole room behind me was displayed; but there was no
sign of a man in it, except myself. This was startling, and, coming on
the top of so many strange things, was beginning to increase that vague
feeling of uneasiness which I always have when the Count is near; but at
the instant I saw that the cut had bled a little, and the blood was
trickling over my chin. I laid down the razor, turning as I did so half
round to look for some sticking plaster. When the Count saw my face, his
eyes blazed with a sort of demoniac fury, and he suddenly made a grab at
my throat. I drew away, and his hand touched the string of beads which
held the crucifix. It made an instant change in him, for the fury passed
so quickly that I could hardly believe that it was ever there.
Take care, he said, take care how you cut yourself. It is more
dangerous than you think in this country. Then seizing the shaving
glass, he went on: And this is the wretched thing that has done the
mischief. It is a foul bauble of man s vanity. Away with it! and
opening the heavy window with one wrench of his terrible hand, he flung
out the glass, which was shattered into a thousand pieces on the stones
of the courtyard far below. Then he withdrew without a word. It is very
annoying, for I do not see how I am to shave, unless in my watch-case or
the bottom of the shaving-pot, which is fortunately of metal.
When I went into the dining-room, breakfast was prepared; but I could
not find the Count anywhere. So I breakfasted alone. It is strange that
as yet I have not seen the Count eat or drink. He must be a very
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