Dracula Chapter 10 Summary

Letter from Dr. Seward to Arthur Holmwood, September 6

Seward writes to Arthur Holmwood to tell him that Lucy isn't so good.
He disguises just how bad she is, though, because he knows that Arthur is with his sick father and can't very well leave him.

Van Helsing arrives and examines Lucy again.
He has some idea of what's wrong with her, but he won't tell Seward yet.
Lucy is very pale and her face seems more bony than usual.
Van Helsing says she needs a blood transfusion immediately. (This was very high-tech at that time—and it was a pretty messy procedure. Nothing like donating blood at a blood drive nowadays, where you sit in a chair and hardly feel a thing, then eat cookies. Back in 1897, it was a new procedure, and the needles they used were huge.)
Dr. Seward volunteers because he's younger and stronger than Van Helsing (who used to be his teacher and is probably in his late forties or fifties).
Besides, Dr. Seward is still in love with Lucy, remember? Of course he wants to donate blood to her.
But before he can, Arthur Holmwood arrives.
As Lucy's fiancé, he gets dibs on giving her a blood transfusion.
After the transfusion, Lucy is sleeping peacefully and looks a little better.
The black ribbon around her neck slips aside, and Van Helsing sees a "red mark" (10.29) on her throat and seems alarmed by it.
But he doesn't explain it to Arthur and Seward.
Reassured that Lucy's going to be okay, Arthur leaves to go back to his father, who is on his deathbed.
Van Helsing instructs Dr. Seward to stay with Lucy all night and to call him if anything happens.

Lucy sleeps well (partly because they gave her a sleeping drug with opium in it; that helped).
She wakes up and tells Dr. Seward that she's afraid to go back to sleep because of all the terrible dreams she's been having.
He assures her that he'll stay with her all night, and that if he sees that she's having a nightmare he'll wake her up.
This makes her feel better, and she goes right to sleep.
The next morning, Seward heads back to his office at the asylum to check on his patients.

Seward is getting pretty worn out—he didn't sleep at all during the day of September 8 because he was working at the asylum, and he has now sat up with Lucy for two nights in a row.
Lucy takes one look at him and tells him to sleep on the couch just outside her room—she'll call him if she needs anything during the night.

Lucy writes in her diary that she is feeling a lot better, especially knowing that Dr. Seward is just outside her room in case she needs him.

Dr. Seward is woken up by Dr. Van Helsing.
He tells Van Helsing that Lucy looked pretty good the night before, and even insisted that he catch up on his sleep there on the couch.
They go into her room to check on her, and find her worse than ever.
She needs another blood transfusion ASAP.
Dr. Seward donates the blood this time, but with the understanding that neither of them will tell Arthur about it—he might get jealous.
Lucy sleeps for a long time, and still looks weak, although better than she did before.
Dr. Seward goes home to sleep that night, and Van Helsing agrees to stay and watch Lucy during the night.

Lucy seems much better, and Van Helsing seems cheerful.
Van Helsing puts a bunch of garlic flowers in Lucy's room, and tells her that they are medicinal, so she shouldn't throw them out or move them without his permission.
He puts some of them over her window and around her neck.
Lucy is skeptical at first, but then accepts them and thanks him.
Seward doesn't get it either, but Van Helsing won't explain it to him.

READ THE BOOK: Chapter 10