5 May.—I must have been asleep, for certainly if I had been
fully awake I must have noticed the approach of such a remarkable
place. In the gloom the courtyard looked of considerable size, and
as several dark ways led from it under great round arches, it
perhaps seemed bigger than it really is. I have not yet been able
to see it by daylight.
When the caleche stopped, the driver jumped down and held out
his hand to assist me to alight. Again I could not but notice his
prodigious strength. His hand actually seemed like a steel vice
that could have crushed mine if he had chosen. Then he took my
traps, and placed them on the ground beside me as I stood close to
a great door, old and studded with large iron nails, and set in a
projecting doorway of massive stone. I could see even in the dim
light that the stone was massively carved, but that the carving had
been much worn by time and weather. As I stood, the driver jumped
again into his seat and shook the reins. The horses started
forward, and trap and all disappeared down one of the dark
openings.
I stood in silence where I was, for I did not know what to do.
Of bell or knocker there was no sign. Through these frowning walls
and dark window openings it was not likely that my voice could
penetrate. The time I waited seemed endless, and I felt doubts and
fears crowding upon me. What sort of place had I come to, and among
what kind of people? What sort of grim adventure was it on which I
had embarked? Was this a customary incident in the life of a
solicitor's clerk sent out to explain the purchase of a London
estate to a foreigner? Solicitor's clerk! Mina would not like that.
Solicitor, for just before leaving London I got word that my
examination was successful, and I am now a full-blown solicitor! I
began to rub my eyes and pinch myself to see if I were awake. It
all seemed like a horrible nightmare to me, and I expected that I
should suddenly awake, and find myself at home, with the dawn
struggling in through the windows, as I had now and again felt instruggling in through the windows, as I had now and again felt in
the morning after a day of overwork. But my flesh answered the
pinching test, and my eyes were not to be deceived. I was indeed
awake and among the Carpathians. All I could do now was to be
patient, and to wait the coming of morning.
Just as I had come to this conclusion I heard a heavy step
approaching behind the great door, and saw through the chinks the
gleam of a coming light. Then there was the sound of rattling
chains and the clanking of massive bolts drawn back. A key was
turned with the loud grating noise of long disuse, and the great
door swung back.
Within, stood a tall old man, clean shaven save for a long white
moustache, and clad in black from head to foot, without a single
speck of colour about him anywhere. He held in his hand an antique
silver lamp, in which the flame burned without a chimney or globe
of any kind, throwing long quivering shadows as it flickered in the
draught of the open door. The old man motioned me in with his right
hand with a courtly gesture, saying in excellent English, but with
a strange intonation.
"Welcome to my house! Enter freely and of your own free will!"
He made no motion of stepping to meet me, but stood like a statue,
as though his gesture of welcome had fixed him into stone. The
instant, however, that I had stepped over the threshold, he moved
impulsively forward, and holding out his hand grasped mine with a
strength which made me wince, an effect which was not lessened by
the fact that it seemed cold as ice, more like the hand of a dead
than a living man. Again he said.
"Welcome to my house! Enter freely. Go safely, and leave
something of the happiness you bring!" The strength of the
handshake was so much akin to that which I had noticed in the
driver, whose face I had not seen, that for a moment I doubted if
it were not the same person to whom I was speaking. So to make
sure, I said interrogatively, "Count Dracula?"
He bowed in a courtly was as he replied, "I am Dracula, and IHe bowed in a courtly was as he replied, "I am Dracula, and I
bid you welcome, Mr. Harker, to my house. Come in, the night air is
chill, and you must need to eat and rest."As he was speaking, he
put the lamp on a bracket on the wall, and stepping out, took my
luggage. He had carried it in before I could forestall him. I
protested, but he insisted.
"Nay, sir, you are my guest. It is late, and my people are not
available. Let me see to your comfort myself."He insisted on
carrying my traps along the passage, and then up a great winding
stair, and along another great passage, on whose stone floor our
steps rang heavily. At the end of this he threw open a heavy door,
and I rejoiced to see within a well-lit room in which a table was
spread for supper, and on whose mighty hearth a great fire of logs,
freshly replenished, flamed and flared.
The Count halted, putting down my bags, closed the door, and
crossing the room, opened another door, which led into a small
octagonal room lit by a single lamp, and seemingly without a window
of any sort. Passing through this, he opened another door, and
motioned me to enter. It was a welcome sight. For here was a great
bedroom well lighted and warmed with another log fire, also added
to but lately, for the top logs were fresh, which sent a hollow
roar up the wide chimney. The Count himself left my luggage inside
and withdrew, saying, before he closed the door.
"You will need, after your journey, to refresh yourself by
making your toilet. I trust you will find all you wish. When you
are ready, come into the other room, where you will find your
supper prepared."
The light and warmth and the Count's courteous welcome seemed to
have dissipated all my doubts and fears. Having then reached my
normal state, I discovered that I was half famished with hunger. So
making a hasty toilet, I went into the other room.
I found supper already laid out. My host, who stood on one side
of the great fireplace, leaning against the stonework, made a
graceful wave of his hand to the table, and said,