Letters Between Miss Kate Reed, Miss Lucy Westenra and Miss Mina Murray
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The following letters have been reproduced here in chronological order. Upon the advice of Holmes, especially with regard to the more sensitive, personal aspects of the letters’ content, I have endeavoured to reproduce only the most pertinent paragraphs.
Letter, Lucy Westenra to Kate Reed, 3 May 1893
My dearest Katie—
Of all the strange things! I confess I have not heard from dear Mina nearly half so often as I should like—she has only written to me once since we all left school. But to think she is experiencing such excitement! What must it have been like to have Jonathan visit her at the school while you were there? Honestly, Jonathan Harker has always been the most oafish, self-centred of men when it comes to the feelings of girls, as you and I can both attest. You are saintly in your restraint, and an excellent friend to Mina through it all.
You were right to say you should have asked her permission before disclosing such juicy titbits to me, but it is done now, and I shall be the pillar of discretion. I shall write to her this very week, under some pretext, but I swear I won’t let on even in the slightest that I know of her engagement to Jonathan. After everything that happened between the two of you, even so long ago, it would be in poor taste to say I’d heard the news from you. I am glad you have both managed to put the matter aside for the sake of your friendship—a man like J is hardly worth quarrelling over. I have no doubt Mina loves him very much, but if, as you say, she really did encourage him to take this trip to advance his career, I half wonder if she did it to have some peace from him for a while. I can think of no further place than Transylvania to send such a frightful bore—I must stop using slang like that, Mother would be most cross with me. And how sly of Mina to gain the confidence of Mr Hawkins so! Clever, too—she is much more level-headed than I could ever be. How delightfully wicked of her, don’t you think?
I shall keep this letter short, my dearest, I hope you can forgive me. But we shall see each other at the concert on Saturday anyhow. You can be a scurrilous gossip then and tell me all about Mina and the other girls!
Please do not breathe a word to Mina of my feelings toward Jonathan—not that you would speak to her about him, of course—but I do so want us all to get along when next we meet. And I shall have more news of my own regarding a certain gentleman, I am sure.
Your loving friend,
Lucy
Letter, Lucy Westenra to Kate Reed, 10 May 1893
My dearest Katie—
I must chide you, at least gently, at the start of my letter, for I received correspondence yesterday from our friend Mina, and it seems you have been telling tales about my courtship with Mr Holmwood. You are such a young minx, and I shall tell Mina so!
But oh, I forgive you, for I am sure I am in love and that is all that matters. Mr Holmwood—I shall call him Arthur hereafter—often visits Mother and me, and they get along famously. He is the kind of man who just understands things, if you know what I mean. He sees the part that I must play, and he is always considerate to console me about it. I almost envy Mother sometimes, for she can talk to people whilst I have to sit by like a dumb animal and smile till I find myself blushing at being an incarnate lie. And it is so silly and childish to blush, and without reason too. Arthur understands though, he plays his part and I mine, until those sacred moments when we may be alone together, and he whispers sweet nothings to me like the gentlest soul, though with none of the forwardness of a certain friend of his—the American you met at the Pop. He is trying to woo me now in his strange way, and I really do wish you had not rebuffed him so at the dance, for he is now my third suitor and it is all most exhausting.
And yet, it is perhaps lucky for you that you did reject the advances of Mr Morris, for although he is a kindly soul, and most gentle with me, I am sure he is roguish beneath that façade of colonial manners. He and Arthur—who he calls “Art”—have been abroad together many times on hunting expeditions, and I have heard whispers of their exploits in foreign ports that make one’s toes curl! But none of that matters, for I shall make an honest man of Arthur and ensure he goes no further astray with the likes of Mr Morris. Whatever his past, Arthur is noble, tall, curly-haired, and true.
I do go on, I know, but only because I am so undeservedly happy, don’t you see? I hope with all my heart that you do not begrudge me this happiness, for I am giddy with it. I know that men have not been kind to you, especially the one that now courts our mutual friend. Your goodness makes up for all of us if you bear no ill will to either of them.
But gosh, I am almost forgetting to tell you the real juicy news. You know how you mentioned Mina’s ambition regarding the law practice that Jonathan works for? Well, you were absolutely right. Mina went on at some length about how she is completely in the confidence of Jonathan’s employer, Mr Hawkins, who now dotes upon her like a daughter. Honestly, she has such plans, for Jonathan to become a partner in the firm, and so young—she positively didn’t even mention his long trip overseas. I daresay she is not missing him at all, and I can’t say I would either, he’s such a bore! Oh, I wrote it again, but I shan’t cross it out.
I wrote to you earlier that our American friend, Quincey Morris, would have made you a fine match. Well, I said a similar thing to Mina, about Jack—Dr Seward, I should say. Remember him? You should! He’s a doctor at the lunatic asylum now, so I do hope Mina forgives me that little jest at her expense! He’s an eccentric sort, who used to play cricket with Arthur, and travelled a little with him and Mr Morris, although I don’t think the rugged life is really for him. He’s still madly in love with me of course, but he’s not the sort of man I could ever take as a husband.
Anyway, I have written much of myself again, and it is a testament to how good you are that you never take me to task for it, even though it is an unbecoming habit. I am inviting Mina to Whitby for the summer, and I hope you will come too. I am not so self-centred in person, and you can tell me all about your life as a schoolmistress, and any scandalous affairs you may be embroiled in. It shall be like old times, the three of us gossiping late into the night!
Ever your loving Lucy
Letter, Mina Murray to Kate Reed, 26 May 1893
Dear Kate,
It has been long since I have put pen to paper to you, and it seems awkward given our proximity, but I think this will be easier to say in writing.
I know that I have been the subject of some gossip about town, and I am sure you know very well why. You must surely know by now that our school is a small place for news, and that the walls themselves have ears—it was you, after all, who set loose the word about Lucy’s curly-haired suitor. As a result, I am equally sure that you would not again be the cause of such mischief, and I would hope that you should defend me against tittle-tattle, as any dear friend would.
On the subject of friendship, I have written recently to dear Lucy, who I know has invited you to come and stay with us in Whitby over the summer. I would humbly beg that you stay away for a time, perhaps completely, as I have much to confide in Lucy about Jonathan—my betrothed—and of my anxiety about his business abroad for so long. I should so hate for you to feel at all uneasy about the conversation, given the history that we have so magnanimously put behind us up to now. There is more, of course, for I am not so selfish as to cause upset on purely my own account. Though I am loath to betray a confidence, I must be cruel to be kind. Lucy is secretly afraid of what might happen should the three of us come together—she and I have both recently had our hearts swept away by virtuous men, and at such a delicate time when passions run high, the appearance of a single woman in need of a man may play unfairly upon the impulses of a certain Arthur Holmwood. I am sure you would not wish to be the cause of any anxiety on Lucy’s part, however inadvertently, especially given her history of poor health.
I know it will be disappointing for you not to see Lucy and myself this summer, but I am sure you agree it will be for the best. I would so hate for any strain to be put on our long-standing fellowship.
M