music, coming from nowhere and created by instruments he could not even identify. As they walked across it and approached the large ornate glass doors leading outside, Wells was stunned to see them open by themselves and Moreau was unable to restrain him from repeatedly stepping on and off the sensor panels, making the doors open and close repeatedly, as a small child might do.
'Please. Herbert,' Moreau said, finally dragging him away. 'We must try not to attract attention to ourselves.'
They went outside into the street and walked for a short distance, Wells craning his neck backward, looking up above them at the impossibly tall buildings and the traffic overhead. He stopped in the center of the sidewalk, gazing up with rapture and in moments there were a number of people around them, likewise looking up, wondering what he was looking at.
'Herbert, for God's sake, please!' Moreau said, dragging him on.
They hadn't walked a block before an adolescent girl with varicolored hair cut in a geometric style and wearing high black boots, scarlet clingpanties and a see-through halter sidled up to them and propositioned Wells. Moreau grimaced and waved her off.
Wells grinned. 'Well, in some respects at least, things have not changed very much at all.'
'If you had accepted her proposition,' Moreau said sourly, 'I think you'd have found that things have changed more than you might think. Come, let us go back to the hotel. I do not wish to expose you to so much that your mind will be shocked by overstimulation. We have much to talk about.'
'Please, can't we stay a little while longer?' Wells said. 'Can't we walk about? There is so much to see! I have a thousand questions bursting from my brain!'
'Later, perhaps,' Moreau said. 'Regrettably, we cannot remain here for long. Bringing you here was a great risk and Iam still not certain that it was the right decision. However, perhaps it was for the best. Perhaps now you will possess enough perspective to fully appreciate what I have to tell you. It would take hours to even begin to answer some of those questions you have, but I needed to eliminate your doubts.'
'And that you have,' said Wells, glancing all around him. 'To think that I have traveled hundreds of years into the future! What a world awaits us! What astonishing accomplishments! Please, Moreau, can't we stay awhile longer?'
Moreau smiled, 'Very well. But keep close to me. If we were to become separated, you would become truly lost, forever. -
'I do not know that I would mind that very much, — said Wells.
'Don't even joke about it,' said Moreau.
'What would happen if we did not go back?' said Wells. 'Purely for the sake of argument, of course.'
'There is no way of knowing exactly what would happen.” said Moreau, 'but you can be certain that history would be changed. The results could be disastrous on an unimaginable scale. By the act of bringing you here, I have already altered history, but the risk is slight if we follow proper precautions. It is nothing compared to the risk we all face hack in your own time. And now that you have seen all this, perhaps you might begin to understand. Come, I will tell you about myself, about who and what I am and where I came from, and about the crowning achievement of my career, which has now turned into a nightmare that threatens all humanity. And it all began when a device known as a chronoplate was invented and man achieved the capability of traveling through time…'
'Count Dracula?'
The tall dark man in the black opera cape paused as he was about to get into his coach outside the Lyceum Theatre. 'I am Dracula.” he said, turning around.
'Inspector William Grayson, Scotland Yard. Might I ask you to give me a moment of your time?'
'Certainly. Inspector. How may I help you?'
'I should like to ask you a few questions. I understand that you were one of the last people to see Miss Angeline Crewe alive. '
'Yes,' said Dracula, ' I suppose I must have been. I had heard about her collapse during rehearsal. Poor girl, a tragedy to die so young. But why should the police be interested? It was an illness, no?'
'We have reason to suspect that it may not have been.” said Grayson. 'Why, did she seem ill to you?'
'I thought she seemed a trifle pale,' said Dracula.
'You had dinner with her and another young woman from the company, a Miss Violet Anderson?'
'Yes, that is correct.”
'And there was another gentleman present, a Mr. Anthony Hesketh?'
'Yes, it was Mr. Hesketh who introduced me to Miss Crewe.'
'Isee. When was the last time you saw Mr. Hesketh?'
'I believe it was that evening, when we all had dinner together.'
'And you have not seen him since?'
'No, I think he said something about going abroad on business.”
'How well do you know him?'
'We occasionally take in a play together. We met here, at the Lyceum. He was kind enough to share my box with me and assist me with the language. English is not my native tongue, you know.'
'You seem to speak it very well,' said Grayson.
'Thank you, but my fluency is not all that I would like it to be. The theatre is an excellent place to hear it spoken properly. I never tire of listening to Mr. Irving.'
'So you and Mr. Hesketh are not very close, then? You see each other only at the theatre?'
'And sometimes for dinner, afterward.' said Dracula. 'I am a very private person, Inspector. I generally keep to myself and only go out at night. Mr. Hesketh seemed like a very pleasant and well-educated young man, but he is only an acquaintance, nothing more. I could not even say what business he is in. I do not recall ever discussing it with hint. Such matters bore me. We spoke mainly about music, literature and the theatre. I fear that I am not being of much help to you.' 'On the contrary,' Grayson said, 'every little bit of information helps. Might I ask what brings you to London?'
Dracula smiled. 'I am a very wealthy man, Inspector Grayson, thanks to the fortunes of my family. I devote most of my time to travel. There is not a great deal to occupy one's time in my native country. The night life of London is so much more fascinating.
'
'I see, May I ask where you are staying'?'
'For the present, I am taking rooms at the Grosvenor. But I enjoy sampling your hotels as much as I enjoy sampling your theatre. In fact, I am enjoying England so much that I am considering purchasing a home here. Perhaps nothing quite so grand as my family castle in Transylvania, but on the other hand, nothing quite so old and drafty, either.'
'Speaking of your family.' said Grayson, 'I once heard a fascinating story about a prince from your country whose name was the same as yours. He was also known as Vlad the Impaler. I believe.'
'Yes, I am descended from him,' said Dracula. 'Not many people outside my country know of him and those that do, such as yourself, invariably ask me if it is true that my ancestor was as bloodthirsty as the legend has it. He was, indeed. However, he is a national hero in my country for having driven out the Turks, who were quite savage in their own right. It is fortunate for all of us that we live in times that are so much more civilized. I fear that my ancestor would not have approved of me. He was a merciless warlord, a voivode. and I am merely an extravagantly wealthy vagabond. No one shall ever tell stories about me. But now I have forgotten what we were discussing. Ah, yes. Miss Crewe and Mr. Hesketh, was it not? They seemed quite taken with each other. Such a pity. They made such a delightful couple. Have I answered your question, Inspector… Grayson, was it'?'
'Yes, thank you, Count,' said Grayson, 'I will not be taking up any more of your time. Sorry to trouble you.' 'No trouble at all. Good night to you, Inspector.' 'And good night to you, Count.'
Grayson held the door for him as he climbed in. then he shut it and waved up at the coachman. For a moment, he froze, startled at the sight of the coachman's face staring down at him. The lower half of the man's face was covered by a muffler. He had long grey hair and he wore a high-collared tweed coat and a bowler hat, but it was the eyes that startled Grayson. They were looking down at him with an absolutely feral gaze. For a brief moment, they almost seemed to glow in the dark and then the coachman cricked the whip and the horses took off at a trot. Grayson stared after the coach until it disappeared into the fog.
