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Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by R.L.Stevenson

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2 In search of Mr Hyde

After dinner that evening Mr Utterson went into his office and unlocked a cupboard． He took out an envelope．It contained the will of Doctor Henry Jekyll，and was writtenin the doctor's own handwriting．

'If I die，or if I disappear for more than three months，'thewill began，'I wish to leave everything I own to my dearfriend Edward Hyde．'

This will had both worried and annoyed Mr Utterson． To alawyer it was an unusual and dangerous kind of will． It wasbad enough when Edward Hyde was only an unknown name，but now that the lawyer knew something about Hyde， the willworried him more than ever． It had seemed like madness before；now it began to seem shameful． With a heavy heart MrUtterson replaced the envelope in the cupboard，put on hiscoat and went to see his old friend Doctor Lanyon．

Doctor Lanyon was enjoying his after-dinner coffee．'Comein，old friend！' he cried． The two men had known each othersince their school days．They sat for several minutes，drinkingcoffee and talking companionably of this and that． At last MrUtterson mentioned the thoughts that were worrying him．

'I suppose，Lanyon，'he said，'that you and I are HenryJekyll's oldest friends？'

'I suppose so，'said Doctor Lanyon，'but I don't often seehim now．'

'Really？' said Mr Utterson in surprise．'I thought you andhe were interested in the same things．'

'We were at one time，'said Doctor Lanyon．'But morethan ten years ago Henry Jekyll became too—well，imaginativefor me． He developed some strange，wild， unscientific ideas． Itold him so，and I've seen very little of him since then．'

Mr Utterson looked at his friend's red， angry face．'Only adisagreement about some scientific question，'he thought．'It's nothing worse than that．' Calmly he continued，'Didyou ever meet a friend of Jekyll's a man called Hyde？'

'Hyde？'repeated Lanyon．'No， never．'

Soon the lawyer said goodnight and went home to bed，where he lay awake for a long time thinking about Enfield's description of Hyde，and Doctor Jekyll's will．When at last hefell asleep，he was troubled by dreams． In his mind's eye hesaw a faceless man marching over the child's body．Then hesaw his old friend Jekyll in bed，while the same faceless figurestood over him．The facelessness of that figure worried himdeeply．

'Very well，Mr Hyde，'said the lawyer to himself，'I willfind you，and I will see your face for myself．'

During the next few weeks Mr Utterson spent many hoursin the narrow street where Enfield had seen Hyde．He waitedpatiently near the mysterious door， hoping for a sight of MrHyde—and one dry， clear winter night he was successful．The street was empty and silent and small sounds carried along way．The lawyer heard footsteps． He stepped back intothe shadows and waited．A short figure turned the corner andwalked towards the mysterious door． Although Mr Uttersoncould not see his face， he felt a strong， almost violent， dislikefor the stranger．

Mr Utterson stepped forward and touched him on the shoulder．'Mr Hyde？'

'Yes，that's my name，'said the stranger coolly．' What doyou want？'

'I see that you're going in．I'm an old friend of DoctorJekyll's．My name is Utterson．You must have heard myname—may I come in with you？'

'Doctor Jekyll is not at home，'replied Mr Hyde．'How didyou know me？'he added sharply．

'First let me see your face，'replied the lawyer．

Mr Hyde hesitated for a moment， then he stood under thestreet light and the lawyer saw his face．'Thank you，' saidMr Utterson．'Now I shall know you again． It may beuseful．'

'Yes，'said Mr Hyde，'it may indeed be useful．Here，too，is my address．You may need it one day．'He gave the lawyerhis address，which was in a poor part of London．

'Good God！'thought the lawyer，'does Hyde know aboutJekyll's will？Is that what he's thinking of？'But he saidnothing．

'And now，'said Mr Hyde，'How did you know me？'

'You were described to me．'

'Who did that？'

'I know people who know you．'

'Who？' asked Mr Hyde sharply．

'Doctor Jekyll，for example，'said the lawyer．

'He never told you！'cried Mr Hyde in sudden anger．'Don't lie to me！'And before the lawyer could answer， heturned the key in the lock and disappeared into the house．

Mr Utterson stared at the closed door．'Why do I dislikehim so much？'he said to himself．'Enfield was right—thereis something evil about the man．Poor Henry Jekyll，I'm worried about you． Your new friend will mean trouble for you．'

Round the corner from the narrow street there was a squareof handsome old houses．One of these was Doctor．Jekyll's house，and Mr Utterson knocked at the front door． The servant answered and told him that Doctor Jekyll was not athome．

'I saw Mr Hyde go in by the laboratory door in the street atthe back of the house， said the lawyer．

'That's right，Mr Utterson，'replied the servant． 'MrHyde has his own key， and comes and goes when he likes． Wehave orders from Doctor Jekyll to obey him．'

Mr Utterson walked home more worried than ever．

A fortnight later Doctor Jekyll gave a dinner party for a fewold friends．Mr Utterson was among them and he remained after the others had left．

'I've been wanting to speak to you for some time，Jekyll，'said the lawyer，'about your will．'

Doctor Jekyll was a tall， well－made man of fifty with asmooth， kindly face．'My poor friend，'he said，'you doworry unnecessarily， you know． Like poor Lanyon when Itold him about my new ideas．“Imaginative rubbish”he calledthem… I'm very disappointed in Lanyon．'

But the lawyer did not want to talk about Doctor Lanyon．'You know I've never agreed with your will，'he continued．'You've told me often enough，'said his friend sharply．

'Well，I've learnt something about your friend Hyde，'continued the lawyer．

The colour of the doctor's handsome face changed from pinkto greyish-white．'I don't want to hear any more，'he said．'You don't understand． I'm in a very difficult，painful situation．

'Tell me everything，'said Mr Utterson，'and I'll do mybest to help you．'

'You're very kind，but this is a private matter．I'll tell youone thing—I can get rid of Mr Hyde any time I want． Youmust understand，however， that I take a great interest in poorHyde．I know you've seen him—he told me， and I'm afraidhe wasn't very polite to you． But I really do care about him．And if anything happens to me，I want you to promise tomake sure that he inherits my money．'

'I cannot pretend that I shall ever like him，' said thelawyer．

'I'm not asking you to like him，'said his friend．'I onlyask you to help him，when I'm gone．'

'I promise，'said Mr Utterson sadly．