"Miss Lucy is dead; is it not so? Yes! Then there can be no wrong to
her. But if she be not dead----"
Arthur jumped to his feet.
"Good God!" he cried. "What do you mean? Has there been any mistake; has
she been buried alive?" He groaned in anguish that not even hope could
soften.
"I did not say she was alive, my child; I did not think it. I go no
further than to say that she might be Un-Dead."
"Un-Dead! Not alive! What do you mean? Is this all a nightmare, or what
is it?"
"There are mysteries which men can only guess at, which age by age they
may solve only in part. Believe me, we are now on the verge of one. But
I have not done. May I cut off the head of dead Miss Lucy?"
"Heavens and earth, no!" cried Arthur in a storm of passion. "Not for
the wide world will I consent to any mutilation of her dead body. Dr.
Van Helsing, you try me too far. What have I done to you that you should
torture me so? What did that poor, sweet girl do that you should want to
