8 MAY, MIDNIGHT
COMING TO AN END

MUCH HAS HAPPENED SINCE MY LAST ENTRY—SOME OF which is rather suspicious. A large part of the day had already passed before I awoke. When I walked into the dining room food was on the table, but all the doors were locked as usual. There were also some foreign newspapers lying there—and a letter from my Wilma, which had come by mail. That was by far the best spice on the table.

I was ravenous, and I sat at the dining table for a long time—the more so as I couldn’t help but look through the newspapers. Later, I went to the library, but as usual the Count was nowhere to be found. Every day he is out and about, which does not surprise me, as he has a big estate to take care of and also happens to be an avid hunter. I sat reading the newspapers until sunset, and then I hurried to my bedroom to shut the window. There I realized that I had forgotten to shave, and as I had nothing better to do while I waited for the Count, I hung my shaving mirror in the window, took off my jacket and vest, then picked up the razor blade and put it to my skin.

I looked out the window, admiring the landscape, and thought about the letter from Wilma. I didn’t notice that anyone had come into the room until I heard the Count say, “Good evening, my dear young friend.”¹¹⁰

He is always so cordial.

I was so startled that I gave myself a nasty cut with my razor, but I ignored the blood running down my throat and turned to answer the Count’s greeting.

Never have I seen anyone’s appearance change so drastically. Suddenly the Count became as pale as a corpse; his eyes, turning red, bulged out of his head, and with his hair standing up like that of an angry dog, he looked like a raging beast. Before I knew what was happening, he seized me by the throat, tearing my shirt, and would probably have bitten my windpipe had my rosary not gotten in the way. He must have been momentarily possessed.

Soon his outburst subsided, and he asked that I forgive him for becoming so frenzied. “But I cannot bear to see human blood,” he explained.