Holmes did indeed visit Mile End Gate that night, and returned with the promised letter. Added to the cache that Inspector Bradstreet provided us, we took some heart once more. The evidence was scant, but Van Helsing could not yet be aware of it, and so we were grateful for every scrap.
Undated letter, received by Lucy Westenra on 17 September 1894
My dear,
I cannot express the joy that your letter brought to me, and how happy I am that we are finally to meet. I shall call on you this Sunday, as you asked, at nine o’clock. I am ashamed to insist upon secrecy, but no one can know that I am in the country at present, or I am certain I would find stiff opposition to my plans. It is of especial importance that Arthur Holmwood not learn of our meeting, for we are neither of us yet ready to face his questions. I am counting the hours until our meeting; until then, you have my utmost admiration.
Your servant,
D.
Holmes pored over this short letter for some time, leaving me to sit in silence wondering just what he could find so interesting. Eventually, he passed the letter back to me and explained his thinking.
“It is genuine. The page has been kept in poor conditions, so the provenance of the paper and any scent that may once have suffused it has been lost. There is no envelope and no postmark. It would be unlikely for a court of law to look favourably upon this as evidence were it not for the signed statement that I procured from Miss Hobbs, with no small difficulty.”
“So how can you be sure it’s genuine?” I asked.
“Simple. From the lack of creasing or curling, we can assume that the letter has been kept sandwiched between the pages of a book. This allows us to ascertain with reasonable accuracy just how much wear and yellowing the page should have commensurate with its age. Seven months have passed since this letter was supposedly written, and I would say that is a fair approximation.
“Next, look at the writing. The ink is expensive; it has barely faded, has a uniform flow, and dries to a red-brown sheen that speaks to the inclusion of cochineal and hydrosols in its manufacture. I have studied only three letters produced in similar ink during my cases, all of which were written by titled gentlemen, two of whom were minor royalty from the continent.
“Finally, look at the distinctive flourishes—some of the lower-case letter ‘s’s have the telltale cedilla. Yet even without those, note the odd, angular forms of the letters, and here they are coupled with Grecian capitals, written very ponderously… you can see where the ink is darker as he has deliberated over the letters. This is a man not used to writing in English, who is classically educated, and almost certainly of middle age. From the letter formations alone I would suggest the native language of the author to be one of those Eastern European tongues of the nation-states surrounding the Danube, the Balkans, or perhaps the Ottoman Empire. In short, Watson, all things considered I am confident that this letter was written by a Transylvanian nobleman whose name begins with the initial ‘D’, and there is only one such gentleman pertinent to our story. This is a breakthrough indeed, Watson, for it appears that the Count, so long the subject of our investigation, has finally revealed himself, speaking to us from beyond the grave.”
“And what does he say to us?” I asked, thrilling at the very thought of it—a part of me still thought of Count Dracula as some Un-Dead fiend, despite Holmes’s careful arguments to the contrary.
“Read the letter again, Watson. At first glance, it appears to be a suitor arranging a romantic tryst with another man’s fiancée. But there are other interpretations.”
I studied the missive once again.
“I suppose you’re right, Holmes,” I said. “Perhaps he wished to speak to Lucy about some secret regarding Arthur Holmwood… that would explain why he sought especial secrecy from him.”
“Indeed. And look also at the phrase, ‘I am certain I would find stiff opposition to my plans’. Note the use of ‘my plans’, not ‘our plans’. If this was a romantic plot he would have included Lucy in the arrangement. No, I suspect the opposition he expected would not have come from Holmwood, but from Holmwood’s associates—Van Helsing in particular.”
“So why keep the meeting a secret from Lucy’s mother, if it was innocent?”
“Perhaps because Mrs Westenra was already in the confidence of Van Helsing. More likely, however, because whatever Dracula had to say would cast uncertainty over Arthur Holmwood’s eligibility to marry Lucy. Like all mothers of beautiful young ladies, Mrs Westenra was surely keen to marry her daughter into a wealthy family.”
“As it happened,” I said, “it was Holmwood who benefitted the most from the union.”
“No one knew that at the time. I wonder, was Dracula about to inform Lucy that her betrothed’s claim to his inheritance was not as strong as she believed? Or was he to inform her of some personal scandal that would ruin any hope of a wedding? That is something we cannot be certain of yet.”
“But how do we find out?”
“I am certain all shall become clear with time. For now, I think it is safe to say Van Helsing believes he firmly has the upper hand. Soon, our intelligence-gathering will become telling, and finally we can begin to tighten the noose about this villain. Tomorrow we shall visit the final member of the Crew of Light—one I know you have been thirsting to speak to since we began.”
“Dr Seward.”
“Yes. I have held off on the alienist until now, for if the Dracula Papers are to be believed in his regard, his loyalty to Van Helsing is so powerful it is almost a mania. If he is as convinced of the professor’s goodness as his diary entries suggest, then I doubt we shall convince him otherwise. When we give him a push, Watson, he shall run straight to Van Helsing and warn him. Then the professor shall know we have not given up the fight.”
“What then, Holmes? Are we to play our hand?”
“Not all of it, no. But we are to set the cat amongst the pigeons. When that happens, I am sure we shall get the chance to visit justice upon two fair-haired German men, who have so far found only women to threaten.”