Пропустити текст статті
CHAPTER IV JONATHAN HARKER’S JOURNAL — continued I AWOKE in my own bed . If it be that I had not dreamt , the Count must have carried me here . I tried to satisfy myself on the subject , but could not arrive at any unquestionable result . To be sure , there were certain small evidences , such as that my clothes were folded and laid by in a manner which was not my habit . My watch was still unwound , and I am rigorously accustomed to wind it the last thing before going to bed , and many such details . But these things are no proof , for they may have been evidences that my mind was not as usual , and , from some cause or another , I had certainly been much upset . I must watch for proof . Of one thing I am glad : if it was that the Count carried me here and undressed me , he must have been hurried in his task , for my pockets are intact . I am sure this diary would have been a mystery to him which he would not have brooked . He would have taken or destroyed it . As I look round this room , although it has been to me so full of fear , it is now a sort of sanctuary , for nothing can be more dreadful than those awful women , who were — who are — waiting to suck my blood . 18 May . — I have been down to look at that room again in daylight , for I must know the truth . When I got to the doorway at the top of the stairs I found it closed . It had been so forcibly driven against the jamb that part of the woodwork was splintered . I could see that the bolt of the lock had not been shot , but the door is fastened from the inside . I fear it was no dream , and must act on this surmise . 19 May . — I am surely in the toils . Last night the Count asked me in the suavest tones to write three letters , one saying that my work here was nearly done , and that I should start for home within a few days , another that I was starting on the next morning from the time of the letter , and the third that I had left the castle and arrived at Bistritz . I would fain have rebelled , but felt that in the present state of things it would be madness to quarrel openly with the Count whilst I am so absolutely in his power ; and to refuse would be to excite his suspicion and to arouse his anger . He knows that I know too much , and that I must not live , lest I be dangerous to him ; my only chance is to prolong my opportunities . Something may occur which will give me a chance to escape . I saw in his eyes something of that gathering wrath which was manifest when he hurled that fair woman from him . He explained to me that posts were few and uncertain , and that my writing now would ensure ease of mind to my friends ; and he assured me with so much impressiveness that he would countermand the later letters , which would be held over at Bistritz until due time in case chance would admit of my prolonging my stay , that to oppose him would have been to create new suspicion . I therefore pretended to fall in with his views , and asked him what dates I should put on the letters . He calculated a minute , and then said : — “ The first should be June 12 , the second June 19 , and the third June 29 . ” I know now the span of my life . God help me !
Назад Сторінка 35 з 322 Сторінка 35 з 322 Вперед Читайте далі з перекладом Створіть безкоштовний акаунт: 7 днів Pro, далі 20 перекладів слів на день або платний тариф.
