Dracula. Bram Stoker
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he asked if a man in England might have two solicitors
or more. I told him he might have a dozen if he wished, but that
it would not be wise to have more than one solicitor engaged in
one transaction, as only one could act at a time, and that to
change would be certain to militate against his interest. He
seemed thoroughly to understand, and went on to ask if there
would be any practical difficulty in having one man to attend,
say, to banking, and another to look after shipping, in case local
help were needed in a place far from the home of the banking
solicitor. I asked him to explain more fully, so that I might not
by any chance mislead him, so he said:
«I shall illustrate. Your friend and mine, Mr. Peter Hawkins,
from under the shadow of your beautiful cathedral at Exeter,,
which is far from London, buys for me through your good sell
my place at London. Good! Now here let me say frankly, lest
you should think it strange that I have sought the services oi
one so far off from London instead of some one resident therCj
that my motive was that no local interest might be served save
my wish only; and as one of London residence might, perhaps,
have some purpose of himself or friend to serve, I went thus
afield to seek my agent, whose labours should be only to my
interest. Now, suppose I, who have much of affairs, wish to ship
goods, say, to Newcastle, or Durham, or Harwich, or Dover,
might it not be that it could with more ease be done by con-
signing to one in these ports? "I answered that certainly it would
be most easy, but that we solicitors had a system of agency one
for the other, so that local work could be done locally on instruc-
tion from any solicitor, so that the client, simply placing himself
in the hands of one man, could have his wishes carried out by
him without further trouble.
«But,» said he, «I could be at liberty to direct myself. Is it
not so?»
«Of course,» I replied; and «such is often done by men of
30 Dracula
business, who do not like the whole of their affairs to be known
by any one person.»
«Good! "he said, and then went on to ask about the means of
making consignments and the forms to be gone through, and of
all sorts of difficulties which might arise, but by forethought
could be guarded against. I explained all these things to him to
the best of my ability, and he certainly left me under the im-
pression that he would have made a wonderful solicitor, for there
was nothing that he did not think of or foresee. For a man who
was never in the country, and who did not evidently do much in
the way of business, his knowledge and acumen were wonderful.
When he had satisfied himself on these points of which he had
spoken, and I had verified all as well as I could by the books
available, he suddenly stood up and said:
«Have you written since your first letter to our friend Mr.
Peter Hawkins, or to any other?» It was with some bitterness
in my heart that I answered that I had not, that as yet I had
not seen any opportunity of sending letters to anybody.
«Then write now, my young friend/' he said, laying a heavy
hand on my shoulder: «write to our friend and to any other;
and say, if it will please you, that you shall stay with me until
a month from now.»
«Do you wish me to stay so long?» I asked, for my heart
grew cold at the thought.
«I desire it much; nay, I will take no refusal. When your
master, employer, what you will, engaged that someone should
come on his behalf, it was understood that my needs only were
to be consulted. I have not stinted. Is it not so?»
What could I do but bow acceptance? It was Mr. Hawkins’s
interest, not mine, and I had to think of him, not myself; and
besides, while Count Dracula was speaking, there was that in
his eyes and in his bearing which made me remember that i
was a prisoner, and that if I wished it I could have no choice.
The Count saw his victory in my bow, and his mastery in the
trouble of my face, for he began at once to use them, but in his
own smooth, resistless way:
«I pray you, my good young friend, that you will not dis-
course of things other than business in your letters. It will doubt-
less please your friends to know that you are well, and that you
look forward to getting home to them. Is it not so? "As he spoke
he handed me three sheets of note-paper and three envelopes.
They were all of the thinnest foreign post, and looking at them,
then at him, and noticing his quiet smile, with the sharp, canine
Jonathan Harker’s Journal 31
teeth lying over the red underlip, I understood as well as if he
had spoken that I should be careful what I wrote, for he would
be able to read it. So I determined to write only formal notes
now, but to write fully to Mr. Hawkins in secret, and also to
Mina, for to her I could write in shorthand, which would puzzle
the Count, if he did see it. When I had written my two letters
I sat quiet, reading a book whilst the Count wrote several notes,
referring as he wrote them to some books on his table. Then he
took up my two and placed them with his own, and put by
his writing materials, after which, the instant the door had
closed behind him, I leaned over and looked at the letters, which
were face down on the table. I felt no compunction in doing so,
for under the circumstances I felt that I should protect myself
in every way I could.
One of the letters was directed to Samuel F. Billingtonj
No. 7, The Crescent, Whitby, another to Herr Leutner, Varna; the
third was to Coutts