As Harker explores the Count's castle the next day, he notices a number of unusual, intriguing things: A meal is already prepared and is ready for him — and no servant is present. The table service is made of gold, the curtains and upholstery are made of costly fabrics, seemingly centuries old, and nowhere is there a mirror. To his joy, however, Harker at last discovers a vast library, and he is in the midst of perusing one of the volumes when the Count appears. Dracula tells Harker that he may go anywhere he wishes in the castle, except where the doors are locked. Then he changes the subject and reveals that he greatly fears his proposed journey to England. He feels that his mastery of the English language is insufficient. In addition, he has grown so accustomed to being a master in his own land that he dreads going to England and suddenly being a nobody. For that reason, he wants Harker to remain in the castle as long as possible in order to perfect Dracula's English pronunciation. Harker immediately agrees to do so, and thus they talk further — first, about inconsequential things, and then Dracula explains about the evil spirits in Transylvania that sometimes hold sway. There is "hardly a foot of soil" in all this region, says the Count, "that has not been enriched by the blood of men, patriots, or invaders."
Afterward, their conversation turns to England, and while it is evident that the Count is concerned that he shall, for the most part, be alone in his new surroundings, he is immensely pleased by the description of his new estate: It is surrounded by high walls, made of heavy stone, is in need of repair, but contains massive, old iron gates; it is surrounded by dense trees, and the only building in the nearby vicinity is a private lunatic asylum. "I love the shade and the shadow," Dracula says; "I am no longer young; and my heart, through years of mourning over the dead, is not attuned to mirth."
The two men talk throughout the night, and at the coming of dawn, when the cock crows, Dracula leaps up excitedly and excuses himself. Harker feels nothing tangibly amiss, but he confesses in his diary that he feels uneasy; he wishes that he were home and that he had never journeyed to Transylvania.
