Трек 05_01

Chapter Five

Dr. Jekyll

The lawyer stood for the space of two minutes when Mr. Hyde had left him, the very picture of anxiety. Then he began to walk slowly along the street, pausing every step or two, and lifting a hand to his head like a man who is trying to puzzle out a problem. It was a problem that could not be easily solved . . .

Mr. Hyde was short and pale; he gave one the feeling that he was deformed, and yet was sound of body; he had an ugly smile; he had carried himself with a strange mixture of the timid and the daring; and he spoke with a whispering and somewhat broken voice-all these were points against him, but not all of these together could explain the disgust, dislike and fear with which Mr. Utterson now regarded him.

«There must be something else,» said the puzzled gentleman. «There is something more, if I could find a name for it. God bless me, the man seems hardly human-he is a kind of monster! Can it be that there is something so foul inside him that it has an effect upon the man’s appearance? Oh, my poor Harry Jekyll, if ever I have read the Devil’s mark upon a face, it is on that of your new friend!»

Round the corner from the side street there was a square of ancient, well-built houses. Mr. Utterson stopped at the door of the one that stood second from the corner, which wore a great air of wealth and comfort, and rang the bell. A well-dressed servant opened the door.

«Is Dr. Jekyll at home, Poole?» asked the lawyer.

«I will see, Mr. Utterson,» said Poole, admitting the visitor into a large, low-roofed, comfortable hall, warmed by a bright open fire, and furnished in a costly manner. «Will you wait by the fire, sir, or shall I give you a light in the dining-room?»

«Here, thank you,» said the lawyer, drawing close to the fire. This hall, in which he was left alone, was a pet fancy of his friend the doctor; and Utterson himself always thought of it as the most pleasant room in London. But tonight there seemed a coldness in his blood; the face of Hyde sat heavy on his memory; he seemed to have no enthusiasm for life; and could read a kind of threat in the dancing of the firelight on the polished furniture and the uneasy starting of the shadows on the roof. He was ashamed of his relief when Poole presently returned to announce that Dr. Jekyll was out.

«I saw Mr. Hyde go in by the laboratory door, Poole.» he said. «Is that right, when Dr. Jekyll is from home?»

«Quite right, Mr. Utterson,» replied the servant «Mr. Hyde has a key.»

«Your master seems to place a great deal of trust in that young man, Poole,» said the other, thoughtfully.

«Yes, sir, he does indeed,» said Poole. «We all have orders to obey him.»

«I do not think I ever met Mr. Hyde,» said Utterson.

«Oh, dear no, sir. He never dines here,» replied the servant. «Indeed, we see very little of him on this side of the house. He usually comes and goes by the laboratory door.»

«Well, good night, Poole.»

«Good night, Mr. Utterson.»

And the lawyer set out for home with a very heavy heart.

«Poor Harry Jekyll,» he thought. «He is mixed up in something that will surely do him harm. He was wild when he was young-and perhaps Mr. Hyde has knowledge of some old sin. It must be that! He is a blackmailer, I am sure.» And then suddenly there occurred an idea that gave him new hope. «If this Mr. Hyde were studied,» he thought, «he must have secrets of his own; black secrets, by the look of him; secrets, compared to which, poor Jekyll’s worst would be like sunshine. Things cannot continue as they are. It turns me cold to think of this creature stealing like a thief to Harry’s bedside. And the danger of it! For if this Hyde suspects the existence of the will, he may grow impatient and hasten Harry’s death. I am sure that he would not stop at murder, if it served his purpose. I must do something about all this-if Jekyll will let me-if Jekyll will only let me!»

And, as he walked, he saw once more before his eyes the strange conditions of the will.