"Mrs.
Harker."
Startled, she looked around and saw
Lord Gance coming toward her, one pale hand outstretched. As always, the sight
of him brought back memories and emotions she had to struggle to hide. What
must he think of her, she wondered as he took her hand and kissed it, his lips
just brushing the back of her glove. He did not let go of her hand as he spoke.
"I was just about to leave you and Jonathan this note inviting you to
dinner tonight after the show." He handed the card to her.
"Dinner?
I can ask Jonathan."
"Miss
Lewis, Arthur and I are meeting a group at Rules. Tell him that I don't invite
him, only you. Him, I order to attend. The new
wealth of London will be
there tonight. He is so young and honest, he must meet them."
"We are
all young, Lord Gance."
"It's
the age of youth. May we never grow old." He noted her shock. "Oh
dear, if I've said something wrong, I apologize. I was
only trying to be
complimentary."
He looked so
mockingly sad that she had to laugh. "And if I decline?" she asked.
"You
won't. These people are more than amusing, Mrs. Harker. They are an adventure,
and an education. You must come,
especially tonight, since you
seem to be looking more beautiful than usual."
Did it show
in her face, that passion that flowed from somewhere deep inside her? "And
you so witty," she replied with a tiny
laugh.
"London
does that to me. All the wits bring out a competitiveness in my nature that is
utterly useless in Exeter. Promise me that I
will see you there."
"I'll
do my best." The thought suddenly became more intriguing. She needed the
company, the diversion, the chance to laugh.
"Yes, I promise."
He closed his eyes and nodded
solemnly; then, without warning, he moved close to her. She thought he was
going to whisper something to her. Instead his lips brushed the edge of her
mouth and her cheek. Her face was still cold from the winter air, and his breath
was warm against her skin. "Until tonight," he murmured as if they
had arranged a tryst, then turned and left her.
Jonathan arrived at the hotel nearly an hour late. Mina had
already dressed in the magnificent green gown she had worn to Lord Gance's
dinner. She had piled her hair high on the sides, let it hang in loose ringlets
down the back and arranged the rosebuds in a single clasp near the crown.
"Now
you look so perfect that I shall have to take you to the Savoy after the
show," he said as she slowly turned to show him the
dress.
"We're
invited to Rules." She handed him the card.
"Gance
again," he said with no real enthusiasm. "Do you want to go?"
"Please!"
She sounded too eager, she decided, but went on anyway. "Arthur will be
there, along with Miss Lewis and others from
the cast."
"I
thought you didn't like Miss Lewis," Jonathan countered.
"Not herNo, I thought Arthur
was using her. Perhaps I'm wrong. They've been seeing one another quite often,
and Arthur seems so much happier. Please, Jonathan, we came for a holiday.
Tonight I would like to do something we would never be able to do in Exeter!"
"I
don't like crowds," Jonathan grumbled.
Mina
recalled that Lord Gance's holiday party had resulted in two new clients for
Jonathan's firm. Though it galled her to have to
say it, she went on.
"Lord Gance said there are a number of people coming whom you should
meet."
For the
first time, Jonathan seemed to consider her request. "I suppose we could
put in an appearance," he said. "Will you
promise that we won't stay
too long?"
"Only
as long as you like," she replied, her happiness somewhat contrived.
They met Gance and his party outside
the theater. Rose Lewis, looking flushed from her performance and the three
curtain calls after it, joined them some time later. Arthur was already at
Rules along with a dozen others. Mina never learned all their names, nor could
she recall half of what was said that made her laugh so happily.
She dined on
partridge and smoked salmon, drank far more than usual. As the evening went on,
she noticed Arthur's jealousy of
Gance's friendship with the actress. Rose ignored his barbs,
treating both men with equal affection. Unlike Lucy, who had to choose one
suitor and marry, Rose Lewis could have two men or more if she chose. Rose also
did her best to make Mina and Jonathan feel welcome, but it seemed to Mina
that the more she relaxed, and the more she laughed, the less pleasant
Jonathan became. Finally Jonathan and Arthur retreated to a quieter table. At
first she thought they were merely sulking, later Mina decided that they might
actually be discussing business.
She took
pity on them both and joined them, suggesting that they walk back to the hotel.
The men lit their cigars, and with Mina
in their center, her arms
laced with theirs, they began a leisurely stroll toward Covent Garden.
The street
was more crowded at midnight than it had been at noon, and far more lively.
Carriages and riders moved down it,
ragged flower girls sold
exotic bouquets and street bands played for passersby.
The lights, the scents, even the
wine she had drunk lent magic to the night. Mina lifted her face to the sky and
inhaled deeply, feeling as if she could also drink in the night. Out of the
corner of her eye, she saw something huge and black on the opposite side of
the street.
"Jonathan,
look!" Mina exclaimed, pulling away and pointing across the street to an
organ player with a dancing bear on a leash.
"Let's get closer,"
she suggested and the trio began crossing.
At that moment, the bear stepped off the curb and moved too close
to a passing carriage. The driver pulled the team toward the center of the
road, and one of the horses reared, its hoof cutting the side of Jonathan's
head. Mina screamed. The driver yelled a curse and went on.
Arthur pulled Jonathan to the
sidewalk and pressed a scarf against the wound. "Are you all right?"
he asked. Jonathan's only reply was to grip Arthur's arm until he was able to
lean against a lampost in front of the restaurant. The blood had soaked the
scarf and soiled Jonathan's coat. Mina longed to help him, but the sight of it
held her back. She feared that the fainting spell at the hospital would be
repeated. In spite of his pain, Jonathan saw her tortured expression and
understood. "Go back to Rules, darling. Arthur will see me safely to the
hotel and send for a doctor. If I'm able, I'll be back in an hour or so."
"You're
not coming?" Arthur asked Mina.
She did not
seem to hear him, but only looked down the street, as if something far distant
held her interest more than her
wounded husband. "The
blood," Jonathan whispered for her.
"I
understand." Arthur flagged down a cab, helped Jonathan inside then took
Mina back to their table, whispering a few words to
Rose and reassuring Mina that
he would return and tell her how Jonathan was.
Rose had Mina sit beside her, but as
the evening stretched on, they moved apart in the crowd. It seemed that Mina's
wineglass was always full and, though she made an effort to drink slowly, so
much talking in the noisy, smoky room made her thirsty. Two hours passed
before Arthur returned. "Jonathan is sleeping. He has a concussion, but
the doctor believes that he'll be fine in a few days," he told Mina.
"I'll walk you back to the hotel whenever you wish."
She was
about to ask to leave immediately when Rose motioned Arthur to join her. Mina
watched him go, waited a while for him
to return, then found her
coat and slipped outside to hail a cab.
Gance joined her. "I told
Arthur I would walk you home. I promised him that I would be a gentleman and
reminded him that honest solicitors are far harder to find than beautiful
women." He took her hand and placed it on his arm, then led her across
the street.
"And
what do you think makes a gentleman, Lord Gance?"
"A
simple thing, Mrs. Harker. As every woman knows and rarely admits, a gentleman
is one who always gives a lady no less than
what she wants."
"A
gentleman can hardly know what is in a woman's heart."
"It is
his responsibility to inquire. For example, I wish I knew what you desired,
because I would like to offer it to you, now and
as often as you like."
Mina
blushed, and felt thankful for the darkness that hid it. "I would think
you more sincere if you had waited to know me better
before saying such
things."
"I know
you. I know you through your eyes and the tilt of your head and the firmness of
your step. I know you by the way you
dance, the friends you have
chosen, the causes you support, even by your devotion to your husband."
Mina
laughed. "You are hardly a romantic, Lord Gance."
"Call me Winston, please. Let me think I am making some
progress here. And I am a romantic, romantic enough that I do not understand
why the devoted bride is here in the shadow of St. Paul's Churchyard with
another man rather than at her wounded husband's bedside."
"How
dare you!" she exclaimed as she pulled her arm away and turned to leave.
He gripped
her shoulder. "Because I dare anything," he replied and kissed her,
holding her so tightly that she had no chance to
resist.
His face
glowed in the distant gaslight, his hands gripped her arms painfully, his eyes
seemed so dark and inviting. For a moment
she was no longer in London
but in the little room in Purfleet, and Dracula, not Gance, was holding her.
"No!" she screamed. She pulled herself out of his grasp
and ran. The cobblestones were uneven, her balance a bit skewed from what she
had drunk. Her ankle twisted and she fell, fighting back the tears. She had not
felt so helpless for so long. And the horror was that it reminded her of the
past and, more, that somewhere deep within her she reveled in it.
Gance crouched beside her. "Mina!" he exclaimed, and
when she did not answer, he repeated again, "Mina, can you stand?" "I
think so." She let him help her up, then tried to walk and winced.
"Here." He held out his
arm so she could lean on it. After a few steps, she felt steadier, the pain
less acute. "I'm sorry," he said as they went on. "But I cannot
believe that was your first stolen kiss. Even if it were, I would never have
expected that a woman as strong-willed as you would . . ."
"It was
not my first, Lord Gance. It was how you took it."
That part of
the street was quieter, darker. She knew she had given him an invitation, but
nonetheless she felt brave rather than
foolish.
"Gently then, dear Mina." He lifted her chin and looked
at her, prolonging the moment until their lips touched. For an instant, she thought
that he would not kiss her, and she frowned. It was what he had been waiting
for, and he pulled her to him, kissing her with a passion that demanded a
response.
It was dark.
She had had too much to drink. She had no choice. And there was the matter of
the vampire's life, his memory, still
too much a part of her. She
responded.
He pulled
away and smiled down at her. "I think it's time I take you back to your
hotel," he said.
They returned in silence, Mina
conscious of the motion of his body beside her, the grip of his hand in hers as
he supported her weight. At the door, he stopped. "I do not love
you," he said. "I do not wish to love you or to replace your husband
in your life. But if what I sense is true, you are my mate in ways I doubt
your husband understands. It's your decision now, Mrs. Harker. I will wait to
hear it."
He turned
and left her standing there. He did not look back.
Jonathan had left a single lamp
burning for her, its light so weak it scarcely threw shadows in the dark room.
The smell of blood seemed to hang in the air, the scent half real, half
memory. As Mina turned up the light, Jonathan stirred. It was her chance to go
to him, to see how he was, but she wanted to be alone with her thoughts of
passion, and wickedness, and selfishness.
She should
have hated herself, and yet as she sat in front of the mirror combing out her
hair, her reflection showed a vague smile
of satisfaction, a flush of
excitement in her cheeks.
If Gance had hailed a carriage, had
taken her away to some secluded room, she would not have said a word of
protest, or of assent, and could have ended the evening with some sense of
virtue intact. Instead, he had left the decision entirely up to her. She realized
now how corrupt he was, how careful, and how brutally fair.
The doctor
had left a codeine elixir for the pain, but Jonathan would only take a little
on the journey to Exeter.
Once they reached home, however, he
gave in to the pain, took a large dose of the drug and went to bed. Mina sat
beside him, holding his hand while he slept, squeezing it each time he moaned
and whispering to him that she was near. Though she was reading a book, the
words meant nothing to her. Her mind was entirely on Gance, as if vice rather
than virtue would free her soul from the past.
Later, when
Jonathan's sleep became more natural, Mina unpacked the gifts she had brought
and took Millicent's downstairs.
The woman was reading in the
parlor. On the carved oak sideboard, the framed picture of Jonathan and her had
acquired a central