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I went back to the room , and found Van Helsing looking at poor Lucy , and his face was sterner than ever . Some change had come over her body . Death had given back part of her beauty , for her brow and cheeks had recovered some of their flowing lines ; even the lips had lost their deadly pallor . It was as if the blood , no longer needed for the working of the heart , had gone to make the harshness of death as little rude as might be . “ We thought her dying whilst she slept , And sleeping when she died . ” I stood beside Van Helsing , and said : — “ Ah , well , poor girl , there is peace for her at last . It is the end ! ” He turned to me , and said with grave solemnity : — “ Not so ; alas ! not so . It is only the beginning ! ” When I asked him what he meant , he only shook his head and answered : — “ We can do nothing as yet . Wait and see . ” CHAPTER XIII DR . SEWARD’S DIARY — continued . THE funeral was arranged for the next succeeding day , so that Lucy and her mother might be buried together . I attended to all the ghastly formalities , and the urbane undertaker proved that his staff were afflicted — or blessed — with something of his own obsequious suavity . Even the woman who performed the last offices for the dead remarked to me , in a confidential , brother - professional way , when she had come out from the death - chamber : — “ She makes a very beautiful corpse , sir . It’s quite a privilege to attend on her . It’s not too much to say that she will do credit to our establishment ! ” I noticed that Van Helsing never kept far away . This was possible from the disordered state of things in the household . There were no relatives at hand ; and as Arthur had to be back the next day to attend at his father’s funeral , we were unable to notify any one who should have been bidden . Under the circumstances , Van Helsing and I took it upon ourselves to examine papers , etc . He insisted upon looking over Lucy’s papers himself . I asked him why , for I feared that he , being a foreigner , might not be quite aware of English legal requirements , and so might in ignorance make some unnecessary trouble . He answered me : — “ I know ; I know . You forget that I am a lawyer as well as a doctor . But this is not altogether for the law . You knew that , when you avoided the coroner . I have more than him to avoid . There may be papers more — such as this . ” As he spoke he took from his pocket - book the memorandum which had been in Lucy’s breast , and which she had torn in her sleep . “ When you find anything of the solicitor who is for the late Mrs . Westenra , seal all her papers , and write him to - night . For me , I watch here in the room and in Miss Lucy’s old room all night , and I myself search for what may be . It is not well that her very thoughts go into the hands of strangers . ”
Назад Сторінка 137 з 322 Сторінка 137 з 322 Вперед Читайте далі з перекладом Створіть безкоштовний акаунт: 7 днів Pro, далі 20 перекладів слів на день або платний тариф.
