The House of the Vampire - 13 - Chapters 25 and 26

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
The House of the Vampire by George Sylvester Viereck, Chapter
twenty five. Only three hours had passed since Ethel had
startled earnest from his somber reveries. But within this brief
space their love had matured as if each hour had
been a year. The pallor had vanished from his cheeks
and the restiveness from his eyes. The intoxication of her

(00:23):
presence had rekindled the light of his countenance and given
him strength to combat the mighty forces embodied in Reginald Clarke.
The child in him had made room for the man.
He would not hear of surrendering without a struggle, and
Ethel felt sure she might leave his fate in his
own hand. Love had lent him a coat of mail,
he was warned, and would not succumb. Still, she made

(00:46):
one more attempt to persuade him to leave the house
at once with her. I must go now, she said,
Will you not come with me? After all? I am
so afraid to think of you still here. No, dear,
he replied, I shall not desert my post. I must
solve the riddle of this man's life, And if indeed
he is the thing he seems to be. I shall

(01:07):
attempt to wrest from him what he has stolen from me.
I speak of my unwritten novel. Do not attempt to
oppose him openly. You cannot resist him. Be assured that
I shall be on my guard. I have, in the
last few hours lived through so much that makes life
worth living that I would not wantonly expose myself to
any danger. Still, I cannot go without certainty. Cannot if

(01:31):
there is some truth in our fears, leave the best
of me behind. What are you planning to do my play?
I am sure now that it is mine. I cannot
take from him that is irretrievably lost. He has read
it to his circle and prepared for its publication. And
no matter how firmly convinced you or I may be,
of his strange power, no one would believe our testimony.

(01:54):
They would pronounce us mad. Perhaps we are mad. No,
we are not mad. But it is mad for you
to stay here, she asserted. I shall not stay here
one minute longer than is absolutely essential. Within a week,
I shall have conclusive proof of his guilt or innocence.
How will you go about it? His writing table? Ah, Yes,

(02:18):
perhaps I can discover some note, some indication, some proof.
It's a dangerous game. I have everything to gain. I
wish I could stay here with you, she said, Have
you no friend, no one whom you could trust in
this delicate matter? Why? Yes, Jack? A shadow passed over
her face. Do you know, she said, I have a

(02:41):
feeling that you care more for him than for me. Nonsense,
he said, he is my friend. You you immeasurably more.
Are you still as intimate with him as when I
first met you? Not quite? Of late to troubling, Something
like a thin veil seems to have passed between us.
But he will come when I call him. He will

(03:03):
not fail me in my hour of need. When can
he be here in two or three days? Meanwhile, be
very careful above all, lock your door at night. I
will not only lock, but barricade it. I shall try
with all my power to elucidate this mystery, without, however,
exposing myself to needless risks. I will go, then, kiss

(03:24):
me good bye. May I not take you to the car?
You had better not at the door. She turned back.
Once more, write me every day, or call me up
on the telephone. He straightened himself, as if to convince
her of his strength. Yet when at last the door
had closed behind her, his courage forsook him for a moment,

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and if he had not been ashamed to appear a
weakling before the woman he loved, who knows if any
power on earth could have kept him in that house,
where from every corner a secret seemed to lurk. There
was a misgiving too, in the woman's heart as she
left the boy behind, a prey to the occult power
that seeking expression in multiple activities has made and unmade emperors, prophets,

(04:06):
and poets. As she stepped into a street car, she
saw from afar as in a vision, the face of
Reginald Clark. It seemed very white and hungry. There was
no human kindness in it, only a threat and a
sneer Chapter twenty six. For over an hour, Ernest paced

(04:28):
up and down his room, wildly excited by Ethel's revelations.
It required an immense amount of self control for him
to pen the following lines to Jack, I need you come.
After he had entrusted the letter to the hall boy,
a reaction set in, and he was able to consider
the matter, if not with equanimity, at least with a
degree of calmness. The strangest thing to him was that

(04:51):
he could not bring himself to hate Reginald, of whose
evil influence upon his life. He was now firmly convinced.
Here was another shattered idol, but one like the fragment
of a great godface in the desert, intensely fascinating even
in its ruin. Then, yielding to a natural impulse, Ernest
looked over his photographs and at once laid hold upon

(05:11):
the austere image of his master and friend. No, it
was preposterous. There was no evil in this man. There
was no trace of malice in this face, the face
of a prophet, or an inspired madman, a poet. And
yet as he scrutinized the picture closely, a curious transformation
seemed to take place in the features. A sly little

(05:33):
line appeared insinuatingly about Reginald's well formed mouth, and the
serene calm of his Jupiter head seemed to turn into
the sneak smile of a thief. Nevertheless, Ernest was not afraid.
His anxieties had at last assumed definite shape. It was
possible now to be on his guard. It was only invisible,
incomprehensible fear. Crouching upon us from the night that drives

(05:56):
sensitive natures to the verge of madness and transforms turned
warriors into cowards. Ernest realized the necessity of postponing the
proposed investigation of Reginald's papers until the morning, as it
was now near eleven and he expected to hear at
any moment the sound of his feet at the door.
Before retiring, he took a number of precautions. Carefully, he

(06:17):
locked the door to his bedroom and placed a chair
in front of it. To make doubly sure, he fastened
the handle to an exquisite Chinese vase, a gift of Reginald's,
that at the least attempt to force an entrance from
without would come down with a crash. Then all those
sleep seemed out of the question. He went to bed.
He had hardly touched the pillow when a leaden weight

(06:38):
seemed to fall upon his eyes. The day's commotion had
been too much for his delicate frame. By force of habit,
he pulled the cover over his ear and fell asleep.
All night. He slept heavily, and the morning was far
advanced when a knock at the door that at first
seemed to come across an immeasurable distance brought him back
to himself. It was Reginald's manservant, announcing that breakfast was waiting.

(07:02):
Ernest got up and rubbed his eyes. The barricade at
the door at once brought back to his mind with
startling clearness the events of the previous evening. Everything was
as he had left it. Evidently no one had attempted
to enter the room while he slept. He could not
help smiling at the arrangement, which reminded him of his childhood,
when he had sought by similar means security from burglars

(07:23):
and bogies, And in the broad daylight, Ethel's tales of
vampires seemed once more impossible and absurd. Still, he had
abundant evidence of Reginald's strange influence, and was determined to
know the truth before nightfall. Her word that thought is
more real than blood kept ringing in his ears. If
such was the case, he would find evidence of Reginald's

(07:44):
intellectual burglaries and possibly be able to regain a part
of his lost self that had been snatched from him
by the relentless dream hand. But under no circumstances could
he face Reginald in his present state of mind, he
was convinced that if, in the fleeting vision of a moment,
the other men and true nature should reveal itself to him,
he would be so terribly afraid as to shriek like

(08:05):
a maniac. So he dressed particularly slowly in the hope
of avoiding an encounter with his host. But fate thewarted
his hope. Reginald too lingered that morning unusually long over
his coffee. He was just taking his last sip when
Ernest entered the room. His behavior was of an almost
bourgeois kindness. Benevolence fairly beamed from his face, but to

(08:28):
the boy's eyes it had assumed a new and sinister expression.
You are late this morning, Ernest, he remarked, in his
mildest manner. Have you been about town or writing poetry?
Both occupations are equally unhealthy. As he said this, he
watched the young man with an inscrutable smile that, at
moments was wont to curl upon his lips. Ernest had

(08:51):
once likened it to the smile of Mona Lisa, but
now he detected in it the suavity of the hypocrite
and the leer of the criminal. He could not endure.
He could not look upon that face any longer. His
feet almost gave way under him. Cold sweat gathered on
his brow, and he sank on a chair, trembling and
studiously avoiding the other man's gaze. At last, Reginald rose

(09:13):
to go. It seemed impossible to accuse this splendid impersonation
of vigorous manhood, of cunning and underhand methods, of plagiarisms
and theft. As he stood there, he resembled, more than
anything a beautiful tiger cat, a wonderful thing of strength
and will power, indomitable and insatiate. Yet who could tell
whether this strength was not, after all, parasitic. If Ethel's

(09:36):
suspicions were justified, then indeed more had been taken from
him than he could ever realize, For in that case,
it was his life blood that circled in those veins,
and the fire of his intellect that set those lips aflame.
End of Section thirteen.