When I returned home at five o’clock, I found that Lord Godalming and Quincey Morris had already arrived. They had also finished reading the copies of the diaries and letters that Jonathan and his remarkable wife had carefully organized.
Jonathan was still away, following up on the information Dr. Hennessey had given me about the men who transported Dracula’s boxes.
Mina made us some tea. I cannot remember the last time this old house had felt so much like a real home.
After tea, Mina turned to me.
“Dr. Seward, may I ask you a favor? I would like to see your patient, Mr. Renfield. Please let me meet him. Everything you have written about him in your diary has fascinated me.”
She looked so sincere that I could hardly refuse. Besides, I saw no real reason to keep her from meeting him.
So I took her to Renfield’s room.
I told Renfield that a lady wanted to see him.
“Why?” he asked.
“She is going through the house and wants to meet everyone who lives here.”
“Oh, very well. Let her come in. Just give me a moment to tidy the room.”
His idea of tidying was horrifying. Before I could stop him, he swallowed every fly and spider in the boxes he kept in his room.
It was obvious that he was afraid someone might interfere with them—or perhaps he simply did not want anyone touching his collection.
When he finished, he smiled.
“Let the lady come in.”
He sat on the edge of his bed with his head lowered. His eyes, however, were raised so that he could watch Mina as she entered.
For a moment I wondered whether he might attack her. I remembered how calm he had been shortly before trying to kill me in my study.
I positioned myself where I could grab him immediately if he suddenly lunged at her.
Mina entered calmly and confidently. She had a natural grace that seemed to command respect even from a disturbed person.
She walked up to him with a friendly smile and held out her hand.
“Good evening, Mr. Renfield. You already know who I am, because Dr. Seward has told me about you.”
Renfield did not answer at first. He stared at her carefully, his face tense.
Then his expression changed from suspicion to surprise, and finally to confusion.
“You’re not the woman the doctor was going to marry, are you?”
He paused.
“You can’t be. She’s dead.”
Mina smiled gently.
“Oh, no. I have a husband of my own. I married him before Dr. Seward and I ever knew each other. I’m Mrs. Harker.”
“Then what are you doing here?”
“My husband and I are staying here with Dr. Seward.”
“Then you shouldn’t stay.”
“Why not?”
I decided to join the conversation.
“How did you know I ever wanted to marry anyone?”
Renfield looked at me with open contempt.
“What a ridiculous question.”
“I don’t think it’s ridiculous at all, Mr. Renfield,” Mina said, immediately defending me.
His attitude toward her was completely different. He spoke with remarkable politeness.
“Of course, Mrs. Harker, you must understand. When a man is as loved and respected as our host, everything concerning him naturally becomes interesting to those around him.”
He continued calmly.
“Dr. Seward is loved by his friends, his household, and even his patients. Some of those patients, unfortunately, are not entirely mentally stable, so they sometimes confuse cause and effect.”
He smiled faintly.
“As I have personally spent time in an asylum, I have learned to recognize the strange ways in which some patients reason.”
I could hardly believe what I was hearing.
This was Renfield—the most disturbed patient I had ever treated—speaking like an educated gentleman and discussing philosophy as calmly as any professor.
I wondered whether Mina’s presence had somehow awakened a different side of his mind.
If this remarkable change had happened because of her influence, then she possessed a very unusual power.
We continued talking for some time.
Seeing that Renfield seemed perfectly reasonable, Mina carefully guided the conversation toward his favorite subject.
Again, he surprised me.
He discussed his strange beliefs with complete calmness and even used himself as an example.
“I myself am a good example of a man who once held a very strange belief. My friends were so worried about me that they insisted I be placed under medical care.”
“I believed that life was something that could be continually renewed. I thought that by consuming living creatures—even very low forms of life—I could somehow extend my own life indefinitely.”
His expression remained perfectly calm.
“I believed this so strongly that I eventually tried to take a human life.”
He looked at me.
“The doctor can confirm that I once tried to kill him because I believed that by taking his blood into my own body, I could increase my own vital strength.”
He paused.
“I based the idea on the old statement that blood is life.”
I nodded.
I was too astonished to know what else to do. Only a few minutes earlier, I had watched this same man eat spiders and flies.
I looked at my watch.
“I’m afraid we have to go. I need to meet Professor Van Helsing at the station.”
Mina immediately prepared to leave.
Before she went, she turned to Renfield.
“Goodbye, Mr. Renfield. I hope I can visit you again someday, when circumstances are more pleasant for you.”
To my surprise, Renfield answered softly.
“Goodbye, my dear. I pray that I never see your sweet face again. May God bless you and protect you.”
I left for the station to meet Van Helsing, while Arthur and Quincey stayed behind.
Poor Arthur seemed happier than he had been since Lucy first became ill. Quincey, too, was beginning to look like his old cheerful self.
Van Helsing stepped off the train with the energy of a young man.
The moment he saw me, he hurried over.
“Ah, my friend John! How are things? Good? Excellent! I have been very busy. I have come prepared to stay as long as necessary. Everything at home has been arranged, and I have much to tell you.”
Then he looked at me eagerly.
“Mina is with you?”
“Yes.”
“And her excellent husband?”
“He is here too.”
“And Arthur and my friend Quincey?”
“They’re here.”
“Good! Very good!”
As we drove home, I told him everything that had happened, including how Mina had suggested that I put my diary into a more useful form.
Van Helsing immediately interrupted me.
“Ah, that wonderful Mrs. Mina Harker! She has the mind of a brilliant man and the heart of a woman. God made a remarkable combination when He made her.”
He became serious.
“Until now, fortune has allowed her to help us. But after tonight, she must have no more part in this terrible business.”
I looked at him.
“She has been invaluable.”
“Yes, but that is exactly why we must protect her. We men have decided to destroy this monster. We are prepared for the danger. But Mina should not have to face it.”
He shook his head.
“Even if nothing physically happens to her, the horror may destroy her emotionally. She may suffer afterward, both when awake and in her dreams.”
He sighed.
“She is young and newly married. There are other things in life she may one day need to think about.”
“So she has written down everything?”
“Yes.”
“Then she must discuss the facts with us. But tomorrow, she must leave this work behind. We will continue without her.”
I agreed completely.
Then I told him something else.
“Professor, there is something you need to know. The house Dracula bought is right next to mine.”
Van Helsing stared at me in shock.
“Oh, if only we had known that earlier! We might have reached him in time to save poor Lucy.”
He sighed.
“But what is done is done. We cannot bring back the milk once it has been spilled. We must not waste time thinking about what might have been. We must finish what we have begun.”
He became silent for the rest of the drive.
Before dinner, he spoke to Mina.
“My dear Mrs. Harker, John tells me that you and your husband have carefully arranged every piece of information we have collected so far.”
“Not quite everything, Professor,” Mina replied quickly. “Only everything up to this morning.”
“Why not everything up to now?”
She hesitated.
“We have already seen how useful even the smallest details can be. We have shared our secrets with one another, and no one has been harmed by doing so.”
Mina blushed slightly.
Then she took a piece of paper from her pocket.
“Professor Van Helsing, would you read this and tell me whether it should be included? It is my record of today.”
She looked embarrassed.
“I understand now that everything may be important, even the smallest detail. But most of this is personal. Do you really think I should include it?”
Van Helsing read the paper carefully.
“You do not have to include it if you do not wish to.”
He handed it back.
“But I hope you will. It will only make your husband love you more, and it will make all of us respect and care for you even more.”
Mina blushed again, but this time she smiled brightly.
By then, all our records were complete and organized up to that very hour.
Van Helsing took one copy with him to study after dinner.
We planned to meet again at nine o’clock.
Everyone else had already read the material, so when we gathered in the study, we would all know the facts and could begin planning our attack against Dracula.
When we met in the study two hours later, after dinner, which had been at six, we almost unconsciously formed a small committee.
Van Helsing sat at the head of the table.
He asked me to sit on his right and act as secretary. Jonathan sat beside me.
Across from us sat Lord Godalming, Dr. Seward, and Quincey Morris, with Arthur beside the Professor and Seward in the center.
Van Helsing looked around the table.
“I assume we have all read the information contained in these papers.”
We all agreed.
“Then I think we should first understand exactly what kind of enemy we are facing.”
He paused.
“After that, I will tell you what I have learned about Dracula’s history. Then we can decide how to proceed.”
He leaned forward.
“Vampires do exist. Some of us have seen enough evidence to know that. Even without our own terrible experiences, history and old traditions provide plenty of evidence.”
He smiled sadly.
“I was once a skeptic myself. If I had not trained myself to keep an open mind, I would never have believed any of this until reality forced me to.”
He lowered his eyes.
“If only I had understood the truth earlier, poor Lucy might still be alive. But we cannot change the past. Our task now is to prevent more people from suffering.”
He looked around the room.
“A vampire does not die naturally as ordinary people do. The passing of time does not weaken him. In fact, he becomes stronger when he has enough blood to feed on.”
“Dracula is physically stronger than twenty ordinary men. His intelligence is far beyond that of a normal human being because he has had centuries to develop it.”
“He also knows dark magic. He can control the dead and use them for his purposes.”
“He is more than a beast, but he has no human heart or conscience.”
“He can change his shape. He can appear as a wolf, a bat, or other forms. He can control storms, fog, and thunder. He can command rats, owls, bats, moths, foxes, and wolves.”
“He can become larger or smaller. At times he can disappear completely.”
Van Helsing paused.
“So how do we destroy such a creature?”
He looked directly at us.
“That is the terrible question before us.”
“If we fail, Dracula wins.”
“And the danger is greater than simply dying.”
His voice became solemn.
“If we lose this fight, we may become like him. We could become creatures of the night without conscience or love, feeding on the bodies and souls of the people we care about.”
He looked at the younger men around the table.
“Then we would lose everything. We would be cut off from heaven and hated by everyone.”
He placed his hands on the table.
“But we are facing a duty. Should we run away because it is dangerous?”
“No.”
“I am old. Much of life’s beauty lies behind me now.”
“But you are young. You still have many good years ahead of you.”
He looked around.
“So I ask you—what do you say?”
While Van Helsing spoke, Jonathan reached for my hand.
I had been afraid that the terrible danger might finally be overwhelming him. But when I felt his hand close around mine, strong and steady, my fear disappeared.
There was strength in his touch.
A brave man’s hand can say everything without words.
When Van Helsing finished, Jonathan looked into my eyes, and I looked into his.
We did not need to speak.
“I speak for Mina and myself,” Jonathan said.
“Count me in, Professor,” Quincey said.
“I am with you,” Arthur said. “If nothing else, I will do it for Lucy.”
Seward simply nodded.
Van Helsing stood.
He placed his golden crucifix on the table and held out both hands.
I took his right hand.
Arthur took his left.
Jonathan held my other hand, then reached across toward Quincey.
One by one, we joined hands.
Our promise was made.
My heart felt cold with fear, but I never once thought about stepping away.
Then we sat down again.
Van Helsing’s mood changed. He became practical and businesslike, as if we were planning any ordinary operation.
“We know what we are fighting,” he said. “But we are not helpless.”
“We have something Dracula does not have: cooperation.”
“We have science. We can think freely. We can act during both day and night. We can use every resource available to us.”
“Most importantly, we are fighting for something that is not selfish.”
He continued.
“Now we need to understand Dracula’s limitations.”
“Our knowledge comes mainly from old traditions and superstitions. Normally, those things would not seem reliable enough for a matter of life and death.”
“But what else do we have?”
“And remember, all of this vampire lore has been confirmed by what we ourselves have witnessed.”
“Vampire legends exist almost everywhere humans have lived. They were known in ancient Greece and Rome, throughout Germany and France, in India, China, and many other places.”
“The details may differ, but the basic idea is surprisingly consistent.”
“We have already seen that Dracula does not age normally. He can become stronger and even younger when he has enough blood.”
“He cannot live without blood. Jonathan spent weeks with him and never once saw him eat ordinary food.”
“He casts no shadow and has no reflection in a mirror.”
“Jonathan also witnessed his incredible physical strength when Dracula held the door against the wolves and later helped him out of the carriage.”
“He can become a wolf, as we learned from the events surrounding the ship at Whitby, where a wolf-like creature attacked and tore apart a dog.”
“He can become a bat. Mina saw him in that form at the window in Whitby. John saw him flying away from the house nearby. Quincey saw him at Lucy’s window.”
“He can also turn into mist. The captain of the ship proved that something unnatural happened aboard the Demeter.”
“But the mist seems to have a limited range. He cannot spread it wherever he wants.”
“He can also appear as tiny particles of dust in moonlight. Jonathan saw this strange ability at Dracula’s castle.”
“He can become extremely small. We saw Lucy, before she was finally at peace, slip through an incredibly narrow opening in the door of her tomb.”
“He can enter and escape from places that should be impossible to enter or leave, even when they are tightly sealed.”
“He can see in darkness, which gives him another advantage.”
Van Helsing raised a finger.
“But listen carefully. For all his power, Dracula is not free.”
“In some ways, he is more restricted than a prisoner.”
“He is not completely free to go wherever he wishes. Even though he is unnatural, he still has to obey certain laws of nature.”
“For example, he cannot enter a home unless someone inside first invites him in. Once invited, however, he may return freely.”
“His power is also limited by daylight. When the sun rises, many of his abilities disappear.”
“He has only certain periods when he can move freely.”
“If he is not already in the place he intends to stay, he can only change form at certain times—such as noon, sunrise, or sunset.”
“And there are other restrictions.”
“He cannot cross running water whenever he chooses. He must wait for the right stage of the tide.”
“Garlic weakens him.”
“Sacred objects also have power against him.”
Van Helsing touched the crucifix on the table.
“This symbol forces him to keep his distance.”
“There are other methods as well.”
“A wild rose placed on his coffin can prevent him from leaving it.”
“A sacred bullet fired into the coffin can destroy him.”
“And we already know what a stake through the heart and cutting off the head can accomplish.”
“We have seen these things with our own eyes.”
He leaned forward.
“So once we discover where Dracula sleeps, we can trap him in his coffin and destroy him.”
“But we must be careful.”
“He is extremely intelligent.”
“I have asked my friend Arminius, from the University of Budapest, to investigate Dracula’s history.”
“According to what he has discovered, Dracula was probably the same Voivode Dracula who became famous for fighting the Turks near the border.”
“If that is true, he was no ordinary man.”
“For generations, he was remembered as one of the most intelligent, cunning, and courageous rulers from the land beyond the forest.”
“That powerful mind and iron determination have survived into the monster we face today.”
“The Dracula family was once a great and noble family, although some members were accused of dealing with the Devil.”
“They were said to have learned dark secrets at the Scholomance, a legendary school in the mountains near Lake Hermannstadt, where the Devil was supposed to claim one student out of every ten.”
“Old records contain words associated with witches, Satan, and hell. One manuscript even refers to this Dracula as a vampire.”
He paused.
“There were also good and honorable people in Dracula’s family.”
“And that is important.”
“Because this evil creature is rooted in a place that once contained goodness and sacred memories.”
“Perhaps that is why the earth connected with holy memories is so important to him. Evil may be able to hide there, but it can never truly belong there.”
While Van Helsing spoke, Quincey had been staring at the window.
Suddenly, he stood up quietly and left the room.
There was a brief pause.
Van Helsing continued.
“Now we must decide what to do.”
“We have a great deal of information. We need to turn it into a plan.”
“Jonathan’s investigation tells us that fifty boxes of earth were transported from Dracula’s castle to Whitby and eventually delivered to Carfax.”
“We also know that at least some of those boxes have already been moved.”
“Our first task should be to find out exactly how many boxes are still inside the house next door.”
“If any others have been removed, we must find them.”
Before he could continue, a pistol shot suddenly exploded outside.
The window shattered.
A bullet struck the top of the window frame, ricocheted across the room, and finally hit the opposite wall.
I admit that I am not a brave man by nature.
I screamed.
Everyone jumped to his feet.
Arthur rushed to the window and threw it open.
Then we heard Quincey’s voice outside.
“Sorry! I’m afraid I scared everyone. I’ll come in and explain.”
A minute later, he entered.
“That was incredibly stupid of me,” he said. “Mrs. Harker, I sincerely apologize. I’m afraid I must have frightened you badly.”
He looked embarrassed.
“The truth is, while the Professor was talking, a large bat landed on the window sill.”
He shook his head.
“After everything that has happened, I cannot stand those damned creatures anymore. Whenever I see one in the evening, I’ve started shooting at it.”
He looked at Arthur.
“You used to laugh at me for doing that, Art.”
“Did you hit it?” Van Helsing asked.
“I don’t know. I doubt it. It flew away into the woods.”
Quincey sat down again.
Van Helsing continued as if nothing had happened.
“We must locate every one of those boxes.”
“When we are ready, we will either capture Dracula in his lair or kill him there.”
“If necessary, we will make every box of earth useless to him, so he can no longer use it as a place of safety.”
“That way, eventually, we may force him to remain in human form during the hours between noon and sunset, when he is weakest.”
Then Van Helsing turned toward me.
“And Mina, tonight is the end of your involvement until this is over.”
“You are too important to us to be placed in such danger.”
“When we leave tonight, you must not ask us what we are doing. We will tell you everything when the time is right.”
“We are men, and we can face this danger.”
“You must be our hope and our guiding light. Knowing that you are safe will allow us to act without worrying about you.”
The men all seemed relieved, even Jonathan.
I understood why they wanted to protect me, but I did not like the idea of them taking greater risks simply because they were trying to keep me safe.
Still, their minds were made up.
As painful as it was, I could do nothing but accept their decision.
Quincey spoke again.
“We cannot waste any more time. I say we go to Dracula’s house right now.”
“Time is everything to him. If we move quickly, we may be able to save another victim.”
I felt my courage beginning to fail as the moment of action drew closer.
But I said nothing.
I was afraid that if they thought I was a burden, they might stop telling me what was happening altogether.
So they left for Carfax, carrying everything they needed to break into the house.
As usual, they told me to go to bed and sleep.
As if any woman could sleep while the people she loved were facing such danger.
I will lie down and pretend to sleep.
At least then Jonathan will not have the added worry of thinking about me when he returns.
At four o’clock in the morning, just as we were preparing to leave, an urgent message came from Renfield.
He wanted to see me immediately.
He claimed that he had something extremely important to tell me.
I told the attendant to inform him that I would see him in the morning. I was busy at the moment.
But the attendant looked worried.
“He seems unusually desperate, sir. I have never seen him this anxious. If you don’t see him soon, I’m afraid he may have another violent episode.”
I knew the man would not say that without good reason.
“All right,” I said. “I’ll see him now.”
I turned to the others.
“Wait for me a few minutes. I need to see my patient.”
“Take me with you, my friend John,” Van Helsing said.
“Your diary made me very interested in this man’s condition. At times, it seems strangely connected with our own problem. I would like to see him, especially while he is disturbed.”
“May I come too?” Arthur asked.
“Me too?” Quincey added.
I nodded.
The four of us went down the corridor together.
We found Renfield extremely excited, but his speech and behavior were far more rational than I had ever seen.
He seemed unusually aware of his own condition.
More strangely, he spoke as if he expected completely sane men to accept his arguments without question.
We entered his room, but at first none of us spoke.
His request was simple.
He wanted me to release him from the asylum immediately and allow him to return home.
He supported his request with a long argument about how completely recovered he was.
Then he turned to the others.
“I appeal to your friends. Perhaps they would not mind judging my case.”
He suddenly stopped.
“By the way, you haven’t introduced me.”
I was so surprised by his dignity that I actually forgot how strange it was to introduce a patient inside an asylum.
So I did it.
“Lord Godalming. Professor Van Helsing. Mr. Quincey Morris, from Texas. And this is Mr. Renfield.”
Renfield shook each man’s hand.
“Lord Godalming, I had the honor of supporting your father at the Windham. I was very sorry to learn of his death when you inherited his title.”
“He was respected and loved by everyone who knew him.”
He turned to Quincey.
“Mr. Morris, you have every reason to be proud of Texas. Its admission into the Union may prove to have consequences far beyond what anyone currently understands.”
Then he faced Van Helsing.
“And Professor Van Helsing, what can I say? It is a pleasure to meet a man who has revolutionized medicine through his discoveries concerning the human brain.”
He looked around the room.
“You gentlemen are all important figures in the world because of your nationality, your family background, your abilities, or your achievements.”
He straightened himself.
“I ask you to accept that I am just as sane as most men who are considered capable of living freely.”
Then he looked directly at me.
“And surely you, Dr. Seward, as a doctor, scientist, and man devoted to humanity, understand that you have a moral duty to consider my case under these exceptional circumstances.”
He delivered the final words with such confidence and politeness that, for a moment, he almost seemed charming.
We were all stunned.
As for me, despite everything I knew about Renfield’s history, I began to wonder whether his sanity had truly returned.
I felt an almost irresistible urge to tell him that I believed he was well enough to be released and that I would arrange the necessary formalities in the morning.
But I knew how quickly his condition could change.
So I decided to wait.
“You seem to be improving very rapidly,” I told him. “I will speak with you at greater length in the morning. Then I will see what I can do about your request.”
That answer clearly did not satisfy him.
“I’m afraid you have misunderstood me, Dr. Seward.”
“I want to leave now.”
“Not tomorrow morning. Not later today. Now. This very hour.”
He leaned toward me.
“Time is extremely important. In our agreement with death itself, time is the most important part of the contract.”
“I am certain that once I explain this simple but urgent request to a doctor as intelligent as you, you will understand.”
He watched my face carefully.
When he saw that I was not going to agree, he turned to the others.
“Have I misunderstood the situation?”
“Yes,” I said honestly.
There was a long silence.
Finally, he spoke more slowly.
“Then perhaps I should change my request.”
“Let me ask for one small favor. Call it a privilege or a concession, if you like.”
“I am willing to beg for it—not for my own sake, but for the sake of others.”
“I cannot tell you everything. I am not free to reveal my reasons.”
“But I assure you, they are good reasons. They are reasonable, selfless, and based on my strongest sense of duty.”
“If you could look into my heart, you would understand.”
“You would even count me among your most loyal friends.”
He looked at each of us.
I was becoming increasingly convinced that this strange display of intelligence was simply another phase of his madness.
I decided to let him continue until he eventually revealed himself.
Van Helsing, meanwhile, was studying him with extraordinary concentration.
His eyebrows nearly touched as he stared at Renfield.
Then he spoke to him almost as though he were speaking to an equal.
“Can you tell us the real reason you need to be free tonight?”
“I promise that if you can convince even me—a stranger with no prejudice against you—that your reasons are genuine, Dr. Seward will take the risk and release you.”
Renfield shook his head sadly.
The Professor continued.
“Think carefully.”
“You insist that you are completely rational, yet you are asking us to trust you despite the fact that you are still under medical care precisely because your sanity has been questioned.”
“If you refuse to tell us enough to judge your request, how can we make the decision you are asking us to make?”
“Help us understand.”
“If we can help you, we will.”
Renfield slowly shook his head again.
“Professor Van Helsing, I have nothing more to say.”
“Your argument is completely reasonable.”
“If I were free to explain everything, I would not hesitate.”
“But I am not free to speak.”
“All I can ask is that you trust me.”
“If you refuse me, then the responsibility will not be mine.”
I decided the conversation had gone far enough.
“Come, my friends. We have work to do.”
“Good night, Mr. Renfield.”
I turned toward the door.
But just as I reached it, Renfield suddenly changed.
He rushed toward me so quickly that I feared he was about to attack.
But instead, he raised both hands in desperation.
He began pleading with me.
When he realized that his overwhelming emotion was only making me more convinced that he was mentally unstable, he became even more desperate.
I looked at Van Helsing.
His expression told me that he had reached the same conclusion.
I became firmer.
I motioned to Renfield that his efforts would not change my decision.
I had seen this pattern before.
Whenever Renfield desperately wanted something—such as the time he begged for a cat—his excitement would build and build until it finally collapsed into angry resignation.
I expected the same thing to happen now.
But I was wrong.
When he realized that I would not release him, he became frantic.
He dropped to his knees and clasped his hands together.
Tears streamed down his face.
“Please, Dr. Seward. I beg you. Let me leave this place.”
“Send me anywhere you want. Send guards with me. Put me in chains. Put me in a straightjacket. Take me to prison if you have to.”
“Just let me get out of this house.”
“You have no idea what you are doing by keeping me here.”
“I am speaking from the deepest part of my heart—from my very soul.”
“You do not understand who you are hurting or how badly.”
“I cannot tell you.”
“God help me, I cannot tell you!”
“By everything you consider sacred, by everything you love, by the love you have lost and the hope you still possess, I beg you—let me out of here.”
“Save my soul from guilt!”
“Can’t you hear me?”
“Can’t you understand?”
“Will you never realize that I am sane and serious?”
“I am not a madman having one of my fits!”
“I am a sane man fighting for his soul!”
“Please!”
“Listen to me!”
“Let me go!”
“Let me go!”
“Let me go!”
I knew that the longer this continued, the more agitated he would become.
So I took his hand and helped him to his feet.
“That’s enough,” I said firmly.
“We have heard more than enough.”
“Go back to bed and try to control yourself.”
He suddenly became silent.
He stared at me for several seconds.
Then, without saying a word, he walked back to his bed and sat down.
The collapse had finally come, exactly as I had expected.
I was the last of our group to leave the room.
Just before I stepped out, Renfield spoke in a calm, educated voice.
“I trust, Dr. Seward, that one day you will remember that I did everything I could tonight to convince you.”
Then I left him alone.