The Idiot
Page 39
Butit was plain, from her expression of face, how strongly she approved ofthis particular young fool’s doings. In conclusion, the general observedthat his wife took as great an interest in the prince as though he wereher own son; and that she had commenced to be especially affectionatetowards Aglaya was a self-evident fact.
All this caused the general to look grave and important. But, alas! thisagreeable state of affairs very soon changed once more.
A couple of weeks went by, and suddenly the general and his wife wereonce more gloomy and silent, and the ice was as firm as ever. The factwas, the general, who had heard first, how Nastasia Philipovna had fledto Moscow and had been discovered there by Rogojin; that she had thendisappeared once more, and been found again by Rogojin, and how afterthat she had almost promised to marry him, now received news that shehad once more disappeared, almost on the very day fixed for her wedding,flying somewhere into the interior of Russia this time, and thatPrince Muishkin had left all his affairs in the hands of Salaskin anddisappeared also--but whether he was with Nastasia, or had only set offin search of her, was unknown.
Lizabetha Prokofievna received confirmatory news from the princess--andalas, two months after the prince’s first departure from St. Petersburg,darkness and mystery once more enveloped his whereabouts and actions,and in the Epanchin family the ice of silence once more formed over thesubject. Varia, however, informed the girls of what had happened, shehaving received the news from Ptitsin, who generally knew more than mostpeople.
To make an end, we may say that there were many changes in the Epanchinhousehold in the spring, so that it was not difficult to forget theprince, who sent no news of himself.
The Epanchin family had at last made up their minds to spend the summerabroad, all except the general, who could not waste time in “travellingfor enjoyment,” of course. This arrangement was brought about by thepersistence of the girls, who insisted that they were never allowedto go abroad because their parents were too anxious to marry them off.Perhaps their parents had at last come to the conclusion that husbandsmight be found abroad, and that a summer’s travel might bear fruit. Themarriage between Alexandra and Totski had been broken off. Since theprince’s departure from St. Petersburg no more had been said about it;the subject had been dropped without ceremony, much to the joy of Mrs.General, who, announced that she was “ready to cross herself with bothhands” in gratitude for the escape. The general, however, regrettedTotski for a long while. “Such a fortune!” he sighed, “and such a good,easy-going fellow!”
After a time it became known that Totski had married a French marquise,and was to be carried off by her to Paris, and then to Brittany.
“Oh, well,” thought the general, “he’s lost to us for good, now.”
So the Epanchins prepared to depart for the summer.
But now another circumstance occurred, which changed all the plans oncemore, and again the intended journey was put off, much to the delight ofthe general and his spouse.
A certain Prince S---- arrived in St. Petersburg from Moscow, an eminentand honourable young man. He was one of those active persons who alwaysfind some good work with which to employ themselves. Without forcinghimself upon the public notice, modest and unobtrusive, this youngprince was concerned with much that happened in the world in general.
He had served, at first, in one of the civil departments, had thenattended to matters connected with the local government of provincialtowns, and had of late been a corresponding member of several importantscientific societies. He was a man of excellent family and solid means,about thirty-five years of age.
Prince S---- made the acquaintance of the general’s family, andAdelaida, the second girl, made a great impression upon him. Towardsthe spring he proposed to her, and she accepted him. The general and hiswife were delighted. The journey abroad was put off, and the wedding wasfixed for a day not very distant.
The trip abroad might have been enjoyed later on by Mrs. Epanchin andher two remaining daughters, but for another circumstance.
It so happened that Prince S---- introduced a distant relation of hisown into the Epanchin family--one Evgenie Pavlovitch, a young officerof about twenty-eight years of age, whose conquests among the ladies inMoscow had been proverbial. This young gentleman no sooner set eyes onAglaya than he became a frequent visitor at the house. He was witty,well-educated, and extremely wealthy, as the general very soondiscovered. His past reputation was the only thing against him.
Nothing was said; there were not even any hints dropped; but still, itseemed better to the parents to say nothing more about going abroadthis season, at all events. Aglaya herself perhaps was of a differentopinion.
All this happened just before the second appearance of our hero upon thescene.
By this time, to judge from appearances, poor Prince Muishkin had beenquite forgotten in St. Petersburg. If he had appeared suddenly among hisacquaintances, he would have been received as one from the skies; but wemust just glance at one more fact before we conclude this preface.
Colia Ivolgin, for some time after the prince’s departure, continued hisold life. That is, he went to school, looked after his father, helpedVaria in the house, and ran her errands, and went frequently to see hisfriend, Hippolyte.
The lodgers had disappeared very quickly--Ferdishenko soon after theevents at Nastasia Philipovna’s, while the prince went to Moscow, aswe know. Gania and his mother went to live with Varia and Ptitsinimmediately after the latter’s wedding, while the general was housedin a debtor’s prison by reason of certain IOU’s given to the captain’swidow under the impression that they would never be formallyused against him. This unkind action much surprised poor ArdalionAlexandrovitch, the victim, as he called himself, of an “unbounded trustin the nobility of the human heart.”
When he signed those notes of hand he never dreamt that they would be asource of future trouble. The event showed that he was mistaken. “Trustin anyone after this! Have the least confidence in man or woman!” hecried in bitter tones, as he sat with his new friends in prison, andrecounted to them his favourite stories of the siege of Kars, and theresuscitated soldier. On the whole, he accommodated himself very wellto his new position. Ptitsin and Varia declared that he was in the rightplace, and Gania was of the same opinion. The only person who deploredhis fate was poor Nina Alexandrovna, who wept bitter tears over him,to the great surprise of her household, and, though always in feeblehealth, made a point of going to see him as often as possible.
Since the general’s “mishap,” as Colia called it, and the marriage ofhis sister, the boy had quietly possessed himself of far more freedom.His relations saw little of him, for he rarely slept at home. He mademany new friends; and was moreover, a frequent visitor at the debtor’sprison, to which he invariably accompanied his mother. Varia, who usedto be always correcting him, never spoke to him now on the subject ofhis frequent absences, and the whole household was surprised to seeGania, in spite of his depression, on quite friendly terms with hisbrother. This was something new, for Gania had been wont to look uponColia as a kind of errand-boy, treating him with contempt, threateningto “pull his ears,” and in general driving him almost wild withirritation. It seemed now that Gania really needed his brother, and thelatter, for his part, felt as if he could forgive Gania much since hehad returned the hundred thousand roubles offered to him by NastasiaPhilipovna. Three months after the departure of the prince, the Ivolginfamily discovered that Colia had made acquaintance with the Epanchins,and was on very friendly terms with the daughters. Varia heard of itfirst, though Colia had not asked her to introduce him. Little by littlethe family grew quite fond of him. Madame Epanchin at first looked onhim with disdain, and received him coldly, but in a short time hegrew to please her, because, as she said, he “was candid and noflatterer”--a very true description. From the first he put himselfon an equality with his new friends, and though he sometimes readnewspapers and books to the mistress of the house, it was simply becausehe liked to be useful.
One day,
however, he and Lizabetha Prokofievna quarrelled seriouslyabout the “woman question,” in the course of a lively discussion on thatburning subject. He told her that she was a tyrant, and that he wouldnever set foot in her house again. It may seem incredible, but a dayor two after, Madame Epanchin sent a servant with a note begging him toreturn, and Colia, without standing on his dignity, did so at once.
Aglaya was the only one of the family whose good graces he could notgain, and who always spoke to him haughtily, but it so happened that theboy one day succeeded in giving the proud maiden a surprise.
It was about Easter, when, taking advantage of a momentary tête-à-têteColia handed Aglaya a letter, remarking that he “had orders to deliverit to her privately.” She stared at him in amazement, but he did notwait to hear what she had to say, and went out. Aglaya broke the seal,and read as follows:
“Once you did me the honour of giving me your confidence. Perhaps youhave quite forgotten me now! How is it that I am writing to you? I donot know; but I am conscious of an