'One word,' said the lawyer. 'Carew was my client, but so are you, and I
want to know what I am doing. You have not been mad enough to hide this
fellow?'
'Utterson, I swear to God,' cried the doctor, 'I swear to God I will never
set eyes on him again. I bind my honour to you that I am done with him in
this world. It is all at an end. And indeed he does not want my help; you do
not know him as I do; he is safe, he is quite safe; mark my words, he will never
more be heard of.' The lawyer listened gloomily; he did not like his friend's feverish manner.
'You seem pretty sure of him,' said he; 'and for your sake, I hope you may be
right. If it came to a trial, your name might appear.'
'I am quite sure of him,' replied Jekyll; 'I have grounds for certainty that I
cannot share with anyone. Rut there is one thing on which you may advise
me. I have?I have received a letter; and I am at a loss whether I should show
it to the police. I should like to leave it in your hands, Utterson; you would
judge wisely, I am sure; I have so great a trust in you.' 'You fear, I suppose, that it might lead to his detection?' asked the lawyer.
'No,' said the other. 'I cannot say that I care what becomes of Hyde; I am
quite done with him. I was thinking of my own character, which this hateful
business has rather exposed.'
Utterson ruminated awhile; he was surprised at his friend's selfishness, and
yet relieved by it. 'Well,' said he, at last, 'let me see the letter.'
The letter was written in an odd, upright hand and signed 'Edward Hyde':
and it signified, briefly enough, that the writer's benefactor, Dr. Jekyll, whom
he had long so unworthily repaid for a thousand generosities, need labour
under no alarm for his safety, as he had means of escape on which he placed
a sure dependence. The lawyer liked this letter well enough; it put a better
colour on the intimacy than he had looked for; and he blamed himself for
some of his past suspicions. 3. Room with tiers of rising seats surroucentral platform, used for lectures anddemonstrations. 4. Small private room. 'Baize': coarsending a medical woolen material. 5. Large freestanding mirror, hinged on a frame. 'Presses': cupboards with glass doors.
.
THE STRANGE CASE OF DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE / 1659
'Have you the envelope?' he asked.
'I burned it,' replied Jekyll, 'before I thought what I was about. But it bore
no postmark. The note was handed in.'
'Shall I keep this and sleep upon it?' asked Utterson.
'I wish you to judge for me entirely,' was the reply. 'I have lost confidence
in myself.'
'Well, I shall consider,' returned the lawyer. 'And now one word more: it
was Hyde who dictated the terms in your will about that disappearance?'
The doctor seemed seized with a qualm of faintness; he shut his mouth tight
and nodded.
'I knew it,' said Utterson. 'He meant to murder you. You have had a fine
escape.'
'I have had what is far more to the purpose,' returned the doctor solemnly:
'I have had a lesson?O God, Utterson, what a lesson I have had!' And he
covered his face for a moment with his hands. On his way out, the lawyer stopped and had a word or two with Poole. 'By
the bye,' said he, 'there was a letter handed in to-day: what was the messenger
like?' But Poole was positive nothing had come except by post; 'and only
circulars by that,' he added.
This news sent off the visitor with his fears renewed. Plainly the letter had
