Chapter Sixty #3
‘Wait, wait,’ I said, as Miss Fassett commenced a toast. Putting down my glass, I rummaged in my bag and drew out my old, now very tattered, copy of Dracula. The yellow cloth was quite worn, the red lettering faded. I held the book aloft in one hand and, in the other, raised my glass to it.
‘To you, Florence Stoker,’ began Miss Fassett. ‘The woman who fought for Dracula and won.’
‘And to Bram,’ I said, blinking back a sudden rush of tears. ‘May he live on through his writing as he always dreamed.’
Sometime later, after a second bottle had been opened, we were still discussing what Universal making a film would mean – not just for Bram’s legacy, for my finances and the family’s, but for the pirated film Nosferatu as well.
I refused to let go of my conviction that this deal would ensure both versions of Dracula lived on.
‘Doesn’t that bother you, Mother?’ asked Noel, the champagne making his cheeks rosy and his eyes very bright.
‘That Nosferatu might not be destroyed after all but seen by even more people. After everything you’ve been through, all the years of letters, phone calls, lawyers, the meetings, the expense.
The cost to your health, reputation, your peace. ’
I dismissed his concerns with a flap of a hand. ‘I’ll give you forty thousand good reasons why it’s all been worth it.’
Miss Fassett chuckled. ‘It’s not just about the money. I don’t think you realise the significance of what your mother has done, Mr Stoker. She hasn’t only secured a fine deal with a major studio, it’s what this victory means for others.’
‘Others?’
‘Your mother,’ said Miss Fassett, pointing a long finger with a bright red nail in my direction, ‘fought hard to protect your father’s literary rights, for her damn rights as well.
She refused to be fobbed off or ignored; she wouldn’t take no for an answer.
’ She paused to draw heavily on her cigarette.
‘Because of your mother, any creative predators who would steal Dracula and try and profit from it, will think twice. But her marvellous victory has far wider ramifications.’ She gave one of her broad smiles.
‘It does?’ Noel frowned. ‘I don’t think I understand —’
‘Because of Florence Stoker, from this day forward, an author’s copyright will be enshrined in every single deal that’s made. Every contract will now include a clause protecting the creator’s rights, whether it be for film, theatre, and maybe even for that new-fangled invention.’
I looked at her blankly.
‘The one the Scotsman, Logie Baird, created.’
‘Television,’ Noel supplied.
‘That’s it,’ said Miss Fassett, snapping her fingers.
‘As far as I’m concerned, every writer, every creator, ought to bow down and kiss your mother’s feet, Mr Stoker.
She’s set a precedent, and if I’ve any say in the matter, it’s one that will last beyond Dracula or Nosferatu.
You see, in fighting for her rights, Florence Stoker has guaranteed everyone else’s. ’
Noel gave a goofy grin. ‘I … I’d no idea.’ He reached for my hand and squeezed. ‘I’m proud of you, Mother.’ My eyes began to fill again. ‘Father would be too.’
I was about to protest, when Miss Fassett pounced.
‘Before we become completely sozzled, Mrs Stoker, let’s get this contract signed, shall we?
’ She opened a folder on her desk and removed a sheaf of neatly typed pages.
At the top was the logo: Universal Pictures Corporation, Rockefeller Centre, New York.
Bram had always loved New York.
Mrs Fassett held out a pen.
In that moment, I felt their presence. The uninvited men who had entered my life and impacted it in ways I’d never foreseen brushed against me one last time.
Henry Irving, the drowned man, and even Bram’s count.
I felt them hovering. Just as I blinked and tried to focus on the opaque, wavering shapes, they began to dissolve into the smoke that drifted towards the ceiling.
‘I hope you’re right, Miss Fassett,’ I said, accepting the pen with a shaking hand.
I couldn’t wait to tell Mr Thring, Lucy, Nancy, Violet, all those who’d supported me.
Phil and Phillippa too. I wished Ellen was still here, Genevieve.
Dear Gilbert. And Poor O. I sent a prayer heavenward, thanking God Almighty but also Bram.
I wondered if he was watching and, as the familiar scents of ambergris and whisky encompassed me, felt he was.
After all, this was for him as much as me.
‘The thought that my actions over the years, that ours —’ I included Miss Fassett; after all, this wouldn’t have been possible without her, ‘might leave such a legacy is beyond my wildest dreams. But —’ the pen was poised over the contract, ‘but, I fear that if I’m to be remembered at all, it won’t be for that. ’
Noel clicked in exasperation.
‘Why on earth not?’ said Miss Fassett. She sounded affronted. Then, jabbed the place I still had to sign.
Watched over by my son, Miss Fassett and those spectral others, I scrawled my name.
Florence Anne Lemon Bram Stoker.
‘Bram may have given birth to a monster,’ I said. ‘But in this very moment, I’ve set it loose upon the world.’
‘Lucky world,’ said Miss Fassett dryly, and lit another cigarette.