Page 18 of Now Comes the Mist

“Speaking of dinner, I have invited Dr. Seward to join us this evening. He’s bringing a friend, a foreign gentleman who is also a physician.”

“Why Dr. Seward, when you favor Arthur so?” I lift my head from the pillow, alarmed once more. “Andtwophysicians for dinner? Are we returning to the subject of your dark thoughts and the reason for your preparing my nest for me without you?”

My mother frowns and busies herself with smoothing imaginary wrinkles from her skirt. “Papa liked Dr. Seward, as you know, and I think it is important to maintain these friendships. I happened to see the young man in town and thought it might be nice to invite him, since Arthur and Mr. Morris call on us often. When he told me he had a friend visiting, I saw fit to invite the friend as well. Control that wild imagination of yours and get dressed,” she adds, getting up.

“But what if you singlehandedly destroy Arthur’s chances with this invitation?” I tease. “Suppose Dr. Seward, or even this foreign physician, if he is unmarried, proposes tonight in such a way as I cannot refuse and must accept at once?”

“Then I will be pleased, for that is vastly better than waiting for Arthur to take years,” Mamma teases back as she leaves and shuts the door behind her.

I smile and shake my head as I rise from my seat to dress. She is where I get my playful nature from, and I cannot imagine her ever growing old … or not being here.

Dr. Jack Seward is a man who is as precise in his social life as he is in his work, and so just as the clock strikes eight, Mamma and I hear the door open and two sets of heavy male footsteps come down the hall toward the parlor. Dr. Seward enters first, and his eyes find me unerringly even as he greets my mother first. “Miss Westenra,” he says, turning to me with a slow, warm smile. “I would like to introduce you and your mother to a dear friend of mine who has almost become a father to me. May I present Dr. Abraham Van Helsing of Amsterdam?”

The name is of Dutch origin, but the man who bears it does not look even remotely Dutch. He is a head shorter than Dr. Seward but taller than Mamma and me, with a slender build. When he politely takes Mamma’s and my hands in greeting, I feel the strength and quickness in his fingers. He has jet-black hair, a sharp jaw, and narrow dark eyes on either side of a flat nose. In the firelight, his skin is even more olive than my own. He looks to be in his late forties.

Mamma’s face remains calm and polite, though I can see the surprise in her eyes. She had expected someone old, grey, and European, just as I had.

“Mrs. Westenra. Miss Westenra. Thank you for the pleasure of your invitation. I am honored to meet you both after how much Jack has praised you.” Dr. Van Helsing hands my mother a lovely bouquet of yellow daisies. His voice is calm, deep, and impressive, and his English, which is perfect, has shades of both a German and Dutch accent.

Mamma’s eyes shine at his fine manners. “You are most welcome. Any friend of Dr. Seward’s is a friend of ours. Shall we go in? I’m sure you are tired and hungry from your journey.”

Dr. Van Helsing gallantly offers her his arm and she takes it.

“I suppose that makes youmycharge tonight, Miss Lucy,” Dr. Seward says. His arm is warm and solid beneath my hand, and I let myself imaginefor a moment that he is my husband and that we are in our own home. It is almost too easy to picture, and as I look up at him, I see in his darkening eyes that he is thinking along the same lines. My breath catches, and the realization comes at last that what Mamma said was true: as much as I love flirting with these men and enjoying our intrigues, jests, and playful dances, one day soon Iwillhave to choose from among them. And I will not be able to make them all happy.

“I am glad to be in your care, Dr. Seward,” I say, squeezing his arm lightly to hide my emotion. “How have you been enjoying this weather?”

“Very much indeed. I spent an exciting day last week shooting with friends.”

“With Mr. Morris?”

He darts a quick glance at me. “Why, yes.”

“On Mr. Holmwood’s estate?”

“Yes,” he says, with an uneasy laugh. I hide a smile at his obvious hope to keep my mind only on him. “Well guessed. And you?”

“An uneventful week for me, aside from preparing for our summer holiday.”

In the dining room, a fire roars despite the mild spring night, giving the space warmth and cheer. Mamma takes the head of the table, gracefully directing Dr. Seward and Dr. Van Helsing to the chairs on either side of hers. She seats me—to my amusement and Dr. Seward’s dismay—beside the older physician. To the men, it must seem like a hostess’s courtesy, placing her newer guest between herself and her daughter to ensure that he feels welcome. But the twinkle in Mamma’s eye tells me she is thinking of our earlier conversation in my room.

It’s no mystery who Mamma wants for her son-in-law, I think, obediently taking my seat next to Dr. Van Helsing. I have an inkling that even if Arthur took a whole year to propose, my mother would consider it worthwhile, no matter how she jests when we are in private. I smile, imagining what his proposal would be like. Probably a dry, gruff question put to me in a formal manner, his hands behind his back and his chin lifted. I do not think Arthur would be the kind of lover to get down upon one knee. That would be much more in Dr. Seward’s style.

I glance across the table as the servants bring in the soup and find him watching me, as though he knows I am thinking of him. I blush and look down, and he smiles broadly. I feel Dr. Van Helsing looking indulgently between us and wonder how much Jack has told him about me.

“How did the two of you meet, sir?” Mamma asks Dr. Van Helsing. “Dr. Seward did not specify. Did your friendship begin in England or elsewhere?” It is her tactful way of asking about his heritage. Someone else might have bungled the attempt into something offensive, but the grace with which she puts the question makes him smile in complete comprehension.

“We met over ten years ago, when I was a young and very green professor in Germany,” Dr. Van Helsing explains, giving an appreciative sniff of the whitefish bisque the servant places before him. “Jack was my brightest student and challenged me with many an irritating question.”

Dr. Seward laughs. “You are too modest. I don’t believe you have ever been young or green. That is,” he corrects himself hastily, “green. Of course you were young, and still are!”

Both Dr. Van Helsing and my mother have burst into laughter.

“I see how it is, Dr. Impertinence,” the older man teases, and his smile transforms his serious face into a bright, happy one. I glance at his hand for a wedding ring and see a simple gold one. “You accuse me of being elderly when I have scarcely entered my prime.”

Dr. Seward grins. “You will never be elderly, sir, not even when youareelderly.”

“Before I taught in Germany, I was raised abroad,” Dr. Van Helsing says, turning back to Mamma. “I was born in a village in China, where my mother worked as a laundress. By chance, she befriended a kind Dutch couple. The husband was a physician studying rare illnesses in that region of the world, and he and his wife offered my mother employment in their household and an education for me. They became our family, and we gladly took their name. We lived in Amsterdam until my adopted father sent me off to the best schools in England and Germany, having recognized my aptitude for medicine. And now I find myself back in Amsterdam, which feels more like home to me than anywhere else. I was offered a nice little position there.”

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