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Content Warning. This

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episode contains a literary reference with

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racist subtext. Exact

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wording has been changed, but the sentiment

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remains. Letter,

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Lucy Westenra to Mina Murray, 24th

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May. My

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dearest Mina, thanks and

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thanks and thanks again for your sweet letter.

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It was so nice to be able to tell you and

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to have your sympathy.

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My dear, it never rains

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but it pours. How true the old

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proverbs are. Here am

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I, who shall be twenty in September,

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and yet I never had a proposal till today.

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Not a real proposal. And today I

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have had three,

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just fancy, three proposals

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in one day. Isn't it awful?

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I feel sorry, really and truly sorry for two

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of the poor fellows.

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Oh, Mina, I

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am so happy that I don't know what to do with myself. And

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three proposals! But for goodness sake,

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don't tell any of the girls or they will be getting

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all sorts of extravagant ideas and imagine

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themselves injured and slighted if in their very

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first day at home they did not get six at least.

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Some girls are so vain. You

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and I, Mina, dear, who are engaged

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and are going to settle down soon soberly into

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old married women, can despise vanity.

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Well, I

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must tell you about the three, but you must

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keep it a secret, dear, from everyone. Except

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of course Jonathan. You will tell

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him because I would, if I were in

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your place, certainly tell Arthur.

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A woman ought to tell her husband everything, don't you think

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so, dear? And I must be fair. Men

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like women, certainly their wives,

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to be quite as fair as they are. And

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women, I am afraid, are not always quite as fair

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as they should be.

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Well, my dear, number

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one came just before lunch.

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I told you of him, Dr. John Seward,

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the lunatic asylum man.

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man, with the strong jaw and the good forehead.

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He was very cool outwardly, but was

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nervous all the same. He

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had evidently been schooling himself

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as to all sorts of little things, and remembered

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them, but he almost

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managed to sit down on his silk hat, which

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men don't generally do when they are cool.

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And then, when he wanted to appear

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at ease, he kept playing with a lance

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at in a way that made me nearly scream. He

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spoke to me, Mina, very straightforwardly.

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He told me how dear I was to him, though

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he had known me so little, and

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what his life would be, with me to help

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and cheer him.

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He was going to tell me how unhappy he would be

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if I did not care for him, but

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when he saw me cry, he said

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that he was a brute, and would not add

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my present trouble.

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Then he broke off, and asked if I could

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love him in time, and when I

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shook my head his hands trembled. And

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then, with some hesitation, he

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asked me if I cared already for anyone

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else. He put it very

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nicely, saying that he did not

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want to wring my confidence from me, but

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only to know, because if a woman's

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heart was free, a man might have

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hope. And then, Mina, I

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felt a sort of duty to tell him that

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there was someone. I

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only told him that much, and then he stood up,

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and he looked very strong, and

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very grave, as he took both

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my hands and his, and said he hoped

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I would be happy, and that if I ever

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wanted a friend,

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I must count him one of my best. Oh,

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Mina,

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dear. I can't help crying, and

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you must excuse this letter being all blotted.

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Being proposed to is all very nice, and all that

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sort of thing. But,

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it isn't at all a happy thing. You

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have to see a poor fellow whom you know

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loves you honestly, going away,

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and looking all broken-hearted.

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And to know that, no matter

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what he may say at the moment, you

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are passing quite out of his life.

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My dear, I must stop here at present. I feel

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so miserable, though I am so

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happy.

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Evening. Arthur has

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just gone, and I feel in

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better spirits than when I left off, so I can

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go on telling her about the day. Well,

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my dear,

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number two came after lunch. He

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is such a nice fellow, an American

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from Texas, and he looks so young and so

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fresh that it seems almost impossible that he has

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been to so many places, and has

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had such adventures. I

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sympathize with poor Desdemona, when she

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had such a dangerous stream poured

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in her ear by Othello.

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I suppose that we women are such cowards,

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that we think a man will save us from fears, and we

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marry him. I know now what

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I would do if I were a man and wanted to make a girl

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love me.

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Oh, no, I don't.

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For there was Mr. Morris telling us his stories,

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and Arthur never told any, and yet... My

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dear, I am somewhat previous. Mr.

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Quincy P. Morris found me alone. It seems

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that a man always does find a girl alone. Or,

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no, he doesn't, for Arthur tried twice

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to make a chance, and I helped him all I could. I

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am not ashamed to say it now. I

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must tell you beforehand that Mr. Morris

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doesn't always speak slang. That

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is to say, he never does so to strangers

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or before them, for he is really well educated

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and has exquisite manners. But

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he found out that it amused me to hear him

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talk American slang.

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And whenever I was present and there was no one to be shocked,

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he said such funny things. I

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am afraid, my dear, he has to invent it all, for

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it fits exactly into whatever else he has to say.

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But this is the way slang

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has. I do not know myself

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if I shall ever speak slang. I

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do not know if Arthur likes it, as I have never

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heard him use any as yet. Well,

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Mr. Morris sat down beside me and looked

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as happy as he was.

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and as jolly as he could. I could

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see all the same that he was very nervous. He

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took my hand in his and said ever so

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sweetly,

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Miss Lucy,

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I know I ain't good enough to regulate

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the fictions of your little shoes, but

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I guess if you wait till you find a man that is,

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you will go join them seven young

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women with the lamps when

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you quit.

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Oh, you just hitch up alongside of me

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and let us go down the long road

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together, driving in

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double harness. Well,

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he did look so good humored and so jolly

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that it didn't seem half so hard to

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refuse him as it did poor Dr. Seward.

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So I said, as lightly as

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I could, that I did not know anything

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of hitching and that I wasn't broken

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to harness at all yet.

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Then he said

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he had spoken in a light manner and

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he hoped that if he had made a mistake

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in doing so on so grave, so

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momentous an occasion for him, I

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would forgive him.

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He really did look serious when he was saying it

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and I couldn't help feeling a bit serious too. I

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know Mina you will think me a horrid flirt,

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though I couldn't help feeling a sort of exaltation

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that

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he was number two in one day. And

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then my dear, before I could say

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a word, he began pouring

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out a perfect torrent of lovemaking,

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laying his very heart and soul at my feet.

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He looked so earnest over it that

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I shall never again think that a man must be playful

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always and never earnest because he

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is merry at times. I

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suppose he saw something in my face which checked

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him for he suddenly stopped and

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said with a sort of manly fervor

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that I could have loved him for if I had been free.

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you clean grit right through

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to the very depths of your soul.

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Tell me, like one good fellow

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to another, is

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there anyone else that you care for? And

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if there is, I'll never

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trouble you a hair's breath again, but

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will be if you will let me. A

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very faithful friend. My

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dear Mina, why are

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men so noble, when women

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are so little worthy of them? Here

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was I, almost making fun

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of this great-hearted, true gentleman.

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I burst into tears. I am afraid,

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my dear, you will think this a very sloppy letter

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in more ways than one, and

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I really felt very badly. Why

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can't they let a girl marry three men, or as

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many as want her, and save all this trouble?

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But this is heresy, and I must not say it. I

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am glad to say that, though I was crying,

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I was able to look into Mr. Morris's

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brave eyes, and I told him out straight,

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Yes, there is someone

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I love, though

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he has not told me yet that he even loves

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me. I was right

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to speak to him so frankly, for quite a light

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came into his face, and he put out both

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his hands and took mine. I think

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I put them into his, and said

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in a hearty way,

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That's my brave girl.

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It's better worth being late

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for a chance of winning you than

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being in time for any other girl

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in the world.

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Don't cry, my dear. If

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it's for me,

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I'm a hard nut to crack, and

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I take it standing up.

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If that other fellow doesn't know his happiness, well,

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he'd better look for it soon. Well,

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I'll have to deal with me. Little

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girl,

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your honesty and pluck

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have made me a friend, and

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that's rarer than a lover.

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It's

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more unselfish anyhow.

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My dear, I'm

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gonna have a pretty lonely walk

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between this and Kingdom Come. Won't

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you give me one kiss? It'll

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be something I tape off

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the darkness now then. You

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can, you know, if you like.

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For that other good fellow, and he must

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be a good fellow, my dear. Not

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fine, fellow, or you could not love

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him. Hasn't spoken

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yet. That

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quite won me, Mina. For

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it was brave, and sweet of

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him. A noble too to

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a rival, wasn't it? And he's so

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sad. So I leant

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over and kissed him. He

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stood up,

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with my two hands in his, and

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as he looked down into my face, I'm

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afraid I was blushing very much.

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Little girl, I

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hold your hand, and you've kissed

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me. And if these things don't

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make us friends, nothing never

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will. Thank

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you for your sweet honesty to

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me. And goodbye.

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He wrung my hand, and taking

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up his hat, went straight out of the room without looking

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back, without a tear or a quiver or a pause,

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and I am crying like a baby.

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Why must a man

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like that be made unhappy, when

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there are lots of girls about who would worship the

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very ground he trod on? I

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know I would if I were free.

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Only I don't want to be free. My

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dear, this quite upset

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me, and

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I feel I cannot write of happiness just at once

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after telling you of it, and I don't

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wish to tell of the number three,

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until it can be all happy.

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Ever your loving Lucy. P.S.

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Oh, about number three. I

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needn't tell you. a number three, need I? Besides,

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it was all so confused. It seemed only

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a moment from his coming into the room till both his

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arms were round me, and he was kissing

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me. I am

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very, very happy,

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and I don't know what I have done to deserve it.

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I must only try in

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the future to show that I am not ungrateful

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to God for all his goodness to me in sending

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me such a lover, such a husband,

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and such a friend. Goodbye.

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Andresano,

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Talmonier, and Hannah Wright. A

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bloody FM production.