When I came down again I found the others all gathered round the fire inthe study. In the train I had written my diary so far, and simply readit off to them as the best means of letting them get abreast of my owninformation; when I had finished Van Helsing said:--
"This has been a great day's work, friend Jonathan. Doubtless we are onthe track of the missing boxes. If we find them all in that house, thenour work is near the end. But if there be some missing, we must searchuntil we find them. Then shall we make our final _coup_, and hunt thewretch to his real death." We all sat silent awhile, and all at once Mr.Morris spoke:--
"Say! how are we going to get into that house?"
"We got into the other," answered Lord Godalming quickly.
"But, Art, this is different. We broke house at Carfax, but we had nightand a walled park to protect us. It will be a mighty different thingto commit burglary in Piccadilly, either by day or night. I confess Idon't see how we are going to get in unless that agency duck can findus a key of some sort; perhaps we shall know when you get his letter inthe morning." Lord Godalming's brows contracted, and he stood up andwalked about the room. By-and-by he stopped and said, turning from oneto another of us:--
"Quincey's head is level. This burglary business is getting serious; wegot off once all right; but we have now a rare job on hand--unless wecan find the Count's key basket."
As nothing could well be done before morning, and as it would be atleast advisable to wait till Lord Godalming should hear from Mitchell's,we decided not to take any active step before breakfast time. For a goodwhile we sat and smoked, discussing the matter in its various lights andbearings; I took the opportunity of bringing this diary right up to themoment. I am very sleepy and shall go to bed....
Just a line. Mina sleeps soundly and her breathing is regular. Herforehead is puckered up into little wrinkles, as though she thinks evenin her sleep. She is still too pale, but does not look so haggard as shedid this morning. To-morrow will, I hope, mend all this; she will beherself at home in Exeter. Oh, but I am sleepy!
_Dr. Seward's Diary._
_1 October._--I am puzzled afresh about Renfield. His moods change sorapidly that I find it difficult to keep touch of them, and as theyalways mean something more than his own well-being, they form a morethan interesting study. This morning, when I went to see him afterhis repulse of Van Helsing, his manner was that of a man commandingdestiny. He was, in fact, commanding destiny--subjectively. He did notreally care for any of the things of mere earth; he was in the cloudsand looked down on all the weaknesses and wants of us poor mortals. Ithought I would improve the occasion and learn something, so I askedhim:--
"What about the flies these times?" He smiled on me in quite a superiorsort of way--such a smile as would have become the face of Malvolio--ashe answered me:--
"The fly, my dear sir, has one striking feature: its wings are typicalof the aerial powers of the psychic faculties. The ancients did wellwhen they typified the soul as a butterfly!"
I thought I would push his analogy to its utmost logically, so I saidquickly:--
"Oh, it is a soul you are after now, is it?" His madness foiled hisreason, and a puzzled look spread over his face as, shaking his headwith a decision which I had but seldom seen in him, he said:--
"Oh no, oh no! I want no souls. Life is all I want." Here he brightenedup: "I am pretty indifferent about it at present. Life is all right;I have all I want. You must get a new patient, doctor, if you wish tostudy zoophagy!"
This puzzled me a little, so I drew him on:--
"Then you command life; you are a god, I suppose?" He smiled with anineffably benign superiority.
"Oh no! Far be it from me to arrogate to myself the attributes of theDeity. I am not even concerned in His especially spiritual doings. IfI may state my intellectual position I am, so far as concerns thingspurely terrestrial, somewhat in the position which Enoch occupiedspiritually!" This was a poser to me. I could not at the moment recallEnoch's appositeness; so I had to ask a simple question, though I feltthat by doing so I was lowering myself in the eyes of the lunatic:--
"And why Enoch?"
"Because he walked with God." I could not see the analogy, but did notlike to admit it; so I harked back to what he had denied:--
"So you don't care about life and you don't want souls. Why not?" I putmy question quickly and somewhat sternly, on purpose to disconcert him.The effort succeeded; for an instant he unconsciously relapsed into hisold servile manner, bent low before me, and actually fawned upon me ashe replied:--
"I don't want any souls, indeed, indeed! I don't. I couldn't use themif I had them; they would be no manner of use to me. I couldn't eatthem or----" He suddenly stopped and the old cunning look spread overhis face, like a wind-sweep on the surface of the water. "And, Doctor,as to life, what is it after all? When you've got all you require, andyou know that you will never want, that is all. I have friends--goodfriends--like you Doctor Seward;" this was said with a leer ofinexpressible cunning, "I know that I shall never lack the means oflife!"
I think that through the cloudiness of his insanity he saw someantagonism in me, for he at once fell back on the last refuge of such ashe--a dogged silence. After a short time I saw that for the present itwas useless to speak to him. He was sulky, and so I came away.
Later in the day he sent for me. Ordinarily I would not have comewithout special reason, but just at present I am so interested in himthat I would gladly make an effort. Besides, I am glad to have anythingto help to pass the time. Harker is out, following up clues; and so areLord Godalming and Quincey. Van Helsing sits in my study poring overthe record prepared by the Harkers; he seems to think that by accurateknowledge of all details he will light upon some clue. He does not wishto be disturbed in the work, without cause. I would have taken him withme to see the patient, only I thought that after his last repulse hemight not care to go again. There was also another reason: Renfieldmight not speak so freely before a third person as when he and I werealone.
I found him sitting out in the middle of the floor on his stool, a posewhich is generally indicative of some mental energy on his part. When Icame in, he said at once, as though the question had been waiting on hislips:--
"What about souls?" It was evident then that my surmise had beencorrect. Unconscious cerebration was doing its work, even withthe lunatic. I determined to have the matter out. "What about themyourself?" I asked. He did not reply for a moment but looked all roundhim, and up and down, as though he expected to find some inspiration foran answer.
"I don't want any souls!" he said in a feeble, apologetic way. Thematter seemed preying on his mind, and so I determined to use it--to "becruel only to be kind." So I said:--
"You like life, and you want life?"
"Oh yes! but that is all right; you needn't worry about that!"
"But," I asked, "how are we to get the life without getting the soulalso?" This seemed to puzzle him, so I followed it up:--