Titled

Both Varney and the man in the portrait have a scar on their forehead. Additionally, Varney is on a "diet" and thus will not partake in the refreshments he has made available. This latter bit I expect is intended to be recognized as another sign that he is a vampire, being as they do only drink blood.

On Varney's offer to purchase the house, Henry makes the one condition that Varney not show himself to any member of the Bannerworth family. There may also be some level of the vampire making others lose inhibitions in his presence, making Henry act ruder than he would want to by saying both that (at least so bluntly) and that Flora would be driven mad by the sight of him.

Varney, however, wishes to make himself agreeable to Flora.

Anyways, Henry and Marchdale leave, and Varney bows to them and has a facial expression of the usual sort to get note, which is to say his face was difficult/painful/torturous to look at/think about. In essence, vampires can use their faces to make people uncomfortable, but in a supernatural way that makes them intimidating, not in the real life way where people want to punch you if you look at them funny.

Henry, now only with Marchdale in earshot, starts going on a mix of how it would be better if he himself were dead (God smite him) and how surely he must attempt to destroy Varney, who is clearly the vampire.

But then there's Flora, who has already been bitten, and will thusly arise as a vampire herself eventually. What can be done about that. In any case, for Flora, Marchdale tells Henry to focus on living and not throwing himself away on attempting to kill a vampire; especially as Holland will leave Flora due to horror, though Henry still believes Holland will stay for Flora (and so do I).

Here comes morning, and with it all seems so much less horrid. Another letter from Varney and another resignation from a servant both come with it, though. The letter from Varney is a request to purchase Bannerworth Hall (for such a haunted place, it's getting quite a few takers). It's at this point suspicious how everything is lining up for selling the house to be the correct choice.

Having the push from the vampire to leave, but with no certainty that the vampire will stay with the house and not follow the family, Henry and Marchdale come up with the idea to offer the house for one year to Varney, afterwards either would be able to reverse this occupation so that if the vampire follows the family, they will at least have the ability to return home if nothing else.

Henry and Marchdale pay a visit to Sir Varney, whom the servant thereof informs them is unwell but still able to receive them. And lo, Varney is the spitting image of Marmaduke of the Portrait (though Marmaduke is a name mentioned only in the vault of coffins so far). And Henry actually shares this information with Varney. Varney's unwellness is also an injury to his arm from a 'fall'.

But then came a knock at his door. To "come in" there was no response, aside from more single knocks, and twice opening the door himself Holland neither time saw anything in the hallway, though the latter time there was the sound of something between a groan and a sigh. Calling out, he woke Henry.

The knocking, rather than distracting Holland away from removing the portrait, has caused this idea to be spread to Henry. I wonder if this is the ghost of Henry's father, acting to make sure that the new head of the family is the one to find the money, though of course it could also just be the vampire making weird noises that happen to travel strangely.

When they remove the portrait, they find a very unsatisfying nothing. They decide to put the portrait back. I'm still holding out on there being some hidden clue on the back of the portrait.

Then a shriek from outside is heard and Henry and Holland see a humanlike figure rise. Charles Holland is another character who carries a pistol, it would seem, and he shoots whatever it is. The firearm blows out the candle they had been using.

Trying to catch the vampire immediately is foiled, as Holland doesn't know where the latch to open the window is, but soon Henry, Holland, and Marchdale are searching for the vampire while George returns to guard duty. The search is fruitless.

Afterwards, Marchdale advises Henry that he should flee (who refuses), and then tells Mr. Holland that he should leave Flora, which leads them to have something of a spat and Marchdale saying he would leave, though after an apology from Holland should I think be remaining, though Marchdale and Holland are still rather hostile to each other.

It is mentioned that the vampire did "fly", though I'm fairly certain that this is meant only as in fleeing, not actual air travel, even if that is not a rare ability for a vampire.

This chapter is dominated by Flora telling Holland that he should leave and Holland saying he won't stop loving her. I expect that the bulk of this is wanting him to not be endangered, though I suspect there is also some element of the 'defloration' of the vampire's initial attack at play here too.

We leave off with Henry taking Mr. Holland to inform him of what has occurred.

Chapter XI.

In describing what happened to Holland, Henry now has the first mention in this story of the idea that those fed on by a vampire would eventually become one, as part of explaining why it may be wise for Holland to agree to part ways with the family including his fiancée Flora.

Mr. Holland, the gentleman he is (and as in love with Flora as he is) refuses to leave, but in any case he doesn't yet believe it could truly be a vampire or other supernatural cause, as he really shouldn't due to the fact that would normally be completely absurd.

Henry justified the likelihood of virality of vampirism by the idea that if vampire folklore is right about the existence of vampires, it's likely also correct about other aspects not yet verified. Holland uses this to suggest that, as the folklore is that the vampire is a revived corpse, the vampire has a physical form, being not merely an apparition. If it has a physical form, then it should be possible to restrain or even destroy the vampire. Thus, Holland is the first to be on board with plan Capture the Vampire, even though he doesn't truly believe the situation is such.

Holland has chosen to sleep in Flora's original room with the portrait, to see if the vampire will come there first if occupied.

End Chapter XI.

Inside the inner coffin, a box of lead easily enough opened to suggest it may have never been properly secured shut, there are no remains of any animal, human or otherwise, and even if one were to suppose there had been one that had decomposed sufficiently to leave so little it would take well over what would be possible in a century.

At this point, it would seem only Chillingworth, due to filling the 'rational doctor/scientist' role of the group, is still insistent on refusing to believe in vampires and likewise disbelieves in miracles, prophets, etc. as well.

After leaving the vault and the church, to try to get Henry out of the dumps, Chilllingworth advises Henry that he should convince himself to feel obstinate instead and generally to replace feeling depressive emotions with feeling spite towards those emotions.

We end with the 1840s version of using a strawman to demonstrate "owning the libs": The conversation shifts to Chillingworth trying to get Henry to follow reason more, to which Henry does responds with an affirmation of his faith in the scripture and the atheist is stunned into silence because reason lacks the ability to argue against that (as opposed to the stunned silence being in reaction to the stupidity of the religious to argue that, which the author mentions as a possibility of what one might think but which states is definitely not actually the case**).

*With the mention in the 1847 preface of the Varney's death in 1713 (which it also says this story relates), Marmaduke likely become head of the Bannerworth house ~1610, so the story itself is set probably set ~1712-1713, as even if Varney is a different vampire than the one we've seen we still will most likely see his death at the end of the story, with that one being the one that supposedly was widely reported through Europe.

Flora, of course, cannot be told what has transpired; of seeing a body rise, fall to gunshot, and rise again under the fullmoonlight. Nor, as this would be required to explain why they intend to, can she be told about the plan to visit the grave of their ancestor at night (for secrecy, because they do still want to avoid making rumors too easily spread, and publicly opening a coffin would do that) and so need to hope that she'll be Ok with just the company of her mother tonight so that all three of Henry, George, and Mr. Marchdale can investigate. Additionally, they intend to grow their coffin-investigating posse to 4 by including from outside the Bannerworth Hall Mr. Chillingworth.

Flora assents to being left with just her mother (at least between 9p-11p), and after stating a belief that she ought to learn how to defend herself, Henry actually offered her a pair of guns. Flora also apparently has experience (though not recent) with firearms, which both covers her actually being competent enough to use the guns and continues to add to this chapter having more girlpower than I was expecting.

On the way to the church that holds the vault (hopefully) containing the ancestor's corpse, Marchdale forgot to get something with which to light the candles, but Chillingworth always carries chemical matches of his own design. This surely will be important at some later date.

The author does not care for the destruction of old churches and their replacement by the then in-vogue style of church building. After this commentary the posse discuss how to and then break into the church. Then they discuss how it feels wrong to break into a tomb (aside from Chillingworth who wants people to be less weird about bodies, living and dead) and then get to work on doing the very same.

With Henry as new head, a solicitor came on the behalf of an unknown to purchase the property, seemingly at any price, but Henry (with consulting his family) kept the house even then and intended to for as long as possible.

We hear also of one of the trips the 3 siblings took across continental Europe, funded by a now deceased relative, in which on one occasion Flora nearly fell to her death from a cliff if not for the fortuitous appearance actions of a Charles Holland. He and Flora hit it off, and made plans for him to visit in two years, as there was something keeping him from England in the meanwhile; the deaths of both their father and the relative who funded the tours dying in that meanwhile. That the plans were to meet at Bannerworth Hall influenced the decision to hold it for as long as possible, or at least until they could welcome Holland.

Mr. Marchdale was in earlier years one of the admirers of the eventual Mrs. Bannerworth, who in turn chose the most indifferent and least attentive of her admirers, Henry (and Flora and George)'s father. Aside from for her children, Mrs. Bannerworth would have regret for choosing him. In any case, with the husband dead, Marchdale, a man with neither wife nor child, arrives for the company of the widow. In his time there, he has become esteemed by the family. A cool dude all around.

When it comes to the man in the portrait, it is an ancestor of Henry, one who committed suicide (quite the unholy way to go). It is also mentioned that he was buried in his clothes, so I assume that some variety of burial shroud, rather than formalwear as most dead at open casket wakes I've been to have worn, would have been the norm back then.

Since they were back in Flora's normal room (that they had moved her from for ease of mind) they could hear movement in the garden. THE VAMPIRE!

Wait, it's Chillingworth? The doctor? What the hell is he doing down there, and why wouldn't he say he was there if he was doing his own bit of nightwatching? Spontaneity, that's why; Chillingworth didn't realize this was his plan until it was already quite late.

Current state of things:

Flora: eeping

George: with Flora, armed with sword

Chillingworth: patrolling the outside, armed with sword in stick

Henry & Marchdale: likewise patrolling, each has one of Marchdale's pair of single-shot pistols

Having arrayed themselves upon the wall after a check around the house, Chillingworth spots the body of the vampire just in time for the group to see the moonlight resuscitate the wretched being.

Before pursuing the creature, Marchdale fires at and hits the vampire, but the full moon still being present means this does little more than temporarily knock the vampire down, and the chase of the vampire stops upon its entrance into the woods. What they did catch is the likeness of the ancestor (or at least his clothing) of Henry.

"There are more things in Heaven, and on earth, than are dreamed of in our philosophy." - Mr. Marchdale, making a Hamlet reference (main difference being our instead of your)