Chapter 9
Mina writes to Lucy from Budapest, explaining Jonathan's condition. He does not remember his time in Transylvania, and only the nun knows what was said in his delirium. She says nothing except that "the ravings of the sick were the secrets of God."
Topic Tracking: Religion/Religious Duty 6
Jonathan tells Mina that he has no desire to know the secrets of his madness, and so entrusts his diary to his fiancée with the instructions that he must not be told the contents unless some "solemn duty" requires that he should.
They are married that day, in the hospital room, and Mina immediately takes the book and seals it with wax, using her wedding ring as a seal, and shows the sealed book to Jonathan as a sign of marital trust.
Lucy writes her good wishes to Mina. She also says that Arthur has come, and they are to be married within the month. She writes that she is well, but five days earlier, in a diary she wrote of feeling weak, and of hearing a scratching at the window around midnight.
Meanwhile, Dr. Seward's journal shows that he has been studying Renfield closely. The patient goes from being completely deferential to the doctor to trying to kill him. He tends to be violent during the day and docile at night. After attempting to kill Seward during another escape attempt, he becomes immediately calm, and the doctor notices a large bat flying above.
In a letter to Dr. Seward, Arthur Holmwood asks his friend to come to Hillingham, in southwestern England, to treat Lucy, who is worsening. "It will be a painful task for you, I know, old friend, but it will be for her sake, and I must not hesitate to ask, or you to act." Chapter 9, pg. 121 In a follow-up telegram, he adds that he will be leaving to sit with his father, who is ill again as well.
Seward responds immediately, and reports to Holmwood. While he does not examine her thoroughly, out of respect for their engagement, he believes her to have no known sickness, but still very clearly to be ill.
Topic Tracking: Friendship 5
Seward takes it upon himself to contact his mentor, Professor Abraham Van Helsing of Amsterdam, who is a renowned expert on rare diseases as well as a great philosopher, physician and gentleman.
Van Helsing writes back that, being free at the moment, he will come immediately. He also writes that he would come for his friend and student even if he were incredibly busy.
Topic Tracking: Friendship 6
Seward writes again to Holmwood. Van Helsing has come and taken complete control of the situation. He declares that the situation is "life and death, perhaps more," but, for reasons of logic and psychology, will tell the young doctor nothing else. Van Helsing, taken with the girl and loyal to his colleague, goes back to Amsterdam to study the situation further, with the instructions that Seward should write him a daily telegram.
Seward goes back to his journal and Renfield. The lunatic is going through daily changes, sometimes screaming violently, sometimes apologetic and calm. He goes back to farming flies and says, "All over! all over! He has deserted me." Chapter 9, pg. 127 Then, after screaming through sunset and again calming down, he announces that he is finished with insect-catching.
In the first telegram, Seward writes that Lucy is well. She is even better in the second. In the third, she is terrible, and Van Helsing is summoned again.
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