you; it now appears that Evgenie Pavlovitch proposedto Aglaya a month ago, and was refused.”
“Impossible!” cried the prince.
“Why? Do you know anything about it? Look here,” continued the general,more agitated than ever, and trembling with excitement, “maybe I havebeen letting the cat out of the bag too freely with you, if so, itis because you are--that sort of man, you know! Perhaps you have somespecial information?”
“I know nothing about Evgenie Pavlovitch!” said the prince.
“Nor do I! They always try to bury me underground when there’s anythinggoing on; they don’t seem to reflect that it is unpleasant to a manto be treated so! I won’t stand it! We have just had a terriblescene!--mind, I speak to you as I would to my own son! Aglaya laughs ather mother. Her sisters guessed about Evgenie having proposed and beenrejected, and told Lizabetha.
“I tell you, my dear fellow, Aglaya is such an extraordinary, such aself-willed, fantastical little creature, you wouldn’t believe it! Everyhigh quality, every brilliant trait of heart and mind, are to befound in her, and, with it all, so much caprice and mockery, such wildfancies--indeed, a little devil! She has just been laughing at hermother to her very face, and at her sisters, and at Prince S., andeverybody--and of course she always laughs at me! You know I love thechild--I love her even when she laughs at me, and I believe the wildlittle creature has a special fondness for me for that very reason. Sheis fonder of me than any of the others. I dare swear she has had agood laugh at _you_ before now! You were having a quiet talk just now, Iobserved, after all the thunder and lightning upstairs. She was sittingwith you just as though there had been no row at all.”
The prince blushed painfully in the darkness, and closed his right handtightly, but he said nothing.
“My dear good Prince Lef Nicolaievitch,” began the general again,suddenly, “both I and Lizabetha Prokofievna--(who has begun to respectyou once more, and me through you, goodness knows why!)--we both loveyou very sincerely, and esteem you, in spite of any appearances to thecontrary. But you’ll admit what a riddle it must have been for us whenthat calm, cold, little spitfire, Aglaya--(for she stood up to hermother and answered her questions with inexpressible contempt, and minestill more so, because, like a fool, I thought it my duty to assertmyself as head of the family)--when Aglaya stood up of a sudden andinformed us that ‘that madwoman’ (strangely enough, she used exactly thesame expression as you did) ‘has taken it into her head to marry meto Prince Lef Nicolaievitch, and therefore is doing her best to chokeEvgenie Pavlovitch off, and rid the house of him.’ That’s what she said.She would not give the slightest explanation; she burst out laughing,banged the door, and went away. We all stood there with our mouths open.Well, I was told afterwards of your little passage with Aglaya thisafternoon, and--and--dear prince--you are a good, sensible fellow, don’tbe angry if I speak out--she is laughing at you, my boy! She is enjoyingherself like a child, at your expense, and therefore, since she is achild, don’t be angry with her, and don’t think anything of it. I assureyou, she is simply making a fool of you, just as she does with one andall of us out of pure lack of something better to do. Well--good-bye!You know our feelings, don’t you--our sincere feelings for yourself?They are unalterable, you know, dear boy, under all circumstances,but--Well, here we part; I must go down to the right. Rarely have I satso uncomfortably in my saddle, as they say, as I now sit. And peopletalk of the charms of a country holiday!”
Left to himself at the cross-roads, the prince glanced around him,quickly crossed the road towards the lighted window of a neighbouringhouse, and unfolded a tiny scrap of paper which he had held clasped inhis right hand during the whole of his conversation with the general.
He read the note in the uncertain rays that fell from the window. It wasas follows:
“Tomorrow morning, I shall be at the green bench in the park at seven,and shall wait there for you. I have made up my mind to speak to youabout a most important matter which closely concerns yourself.
“P.S.--I trust that you will not show this note to anyone. Though Iam ashamed of giving you such instructions, I feel that I must do so,considering what you are. I therefore write the words, and blush foryour simple character.
“P.P.S.--It is the same green bench that I showed you before. There!aren’t you ashamed of yourself? I felt that it was necessary to repeateven that information.”
The note was written and folded anyhow, evidently in a great hurry, andprobably just before Aglaya had come down to the verandah.
In inexpressible agitation, amounting almost to fear, the prince slippedquickly away from the window, away from the light, like a frightenedthief, but as he did so he collided violently with some gentleman whoseemed to spring from the earth at his feet.
“I was watching for you, prince,” said the individual.
“Is that you, Keller?” said the prince, in surprise.
“Yes, I’ve been looking for you. I waited for you at the Epanchins’house, but of course I could not come in. I dogged you from behindas you walked along with the general. Well, prince, here is Keller,absolutely at your service--command him!--ready to sacrificehimself--even to die in case of need.”
“But--why?”
“Oh, why?--Of course you’ll be challenged! That was young LieutenantMoloftsoff. I know him, or rather of him; he won’t pass an insult. Hewill take no notice of Rogojin and myself, and, therefore, you are theonly one left to account for. You’ll have to pay the piper, prince. Hehas been asking about you, and undoubtedly his friend will call on youtomorrow--perhaps he is at your house already. If you would do me thehonour to have me for a second, prince, I should be happy. That’s why Ihave been looking for you now.”
“Duel! You’ve come to talk about a duel, too!” The prince burstout laughing, to the great astonishment of Keller. He laughedunrestrainedly, and Keller, who had been on pins and needles, and in afever of excitement to offer himself as “second,” was very near beingoffended.
“You caught him by the arms, you know, prince. No man of proper pridecan stand that sort of treatment in public.”
“Yes, and he gave me a fearful dig in the chest,” cried the prince,still laughing. “What are we to fight about? I shall beg his pardon,that’s all. But if we must fight--we’ll fight! Let him have a shot atme, by all means; I should rather like it. Ha, ha, ha! I know how toload a pistol now; do you know how to load a pistol, Keller? First, youhave to buy the powder, you know; it mustn’t be wet, and it mustn’t bethat coarse stuff that they load cannons with--it must be pistol powder.Then you pour the powder in, and get hold of a bit of felt from somedoor, and then shove the bullet in. But don’t shove the bullet in beforethe powder, because the thing wouldn’t go off--do you hear, Keller, thething wouldn’t go off! Ha, ha, ha! Isn’t that a grand reason, Keller,my friend, eh? Do you know, my dear fellow, I really must kiss you, andembrace you, this very moment. Ha, ha! How was it you so suddenly poppedup in front of me as you did? Come to my house as soon as you can, andwe’ll have some champagne. We’ll all get drunk! Do you know I have adozen of champagne in Lebedeff’s cellar? Lebedeff sold them to me theday after I arrived. I took the lot. We’ll invite everybody! Are yougoing to do any sleeping tonight?”
“As much as usual, prince--why?”
“Pleasant dreams then--ha, ha!”
The prince crossed the road, and disappeared into the park, leaving theastonished Keller in a state of ludicrous wonder. He had never beforeseen the prince in such a strange condition of mind, and could not haveimagined the possibility of it.
“Fever, probably,” he said to himself, “for the man is all nerves, andthis business has been a little too much for him. He is not _afraid_,that’s clear; that sort never funks! H’m! champagne! That was aninteresting item of news, at all events!--Twelve bottles! Dear me,that’s a very respectable little stock indeed! I bet anything Lebedefflent somebody money on deposit of this dozen of champagne. Hum! he’s anice fellow, is this prince! I like this sort of man. Well, I needn??
?t bewasting time here, and if it’s a case of champagne, why--there’s no timelike the present!”
That the prince was almost in a fever was no more than the truth. Hewandered about the park for a long while, and at last came to himself ina lonely avenue. He was vaguely conscious that he had already paced thisparticular walk--from that large, dark tree to the bench at the otherend--about a hundred yards altogether--at least thirty times backwardsand forwards.
As to recollecting what he had been thinking of all that time, he couldnot. He caught himself, however, indulging in one thought which made himroar with laughter, though there was nothing really to laugh at in it;but he felt that he must laugh, and go on laughing.
It struck him that the idea of the duel might not have occurred toKeller alone, but that his lesson in the art of pistol-loading mighthave been not altogether accidental! “Pooh! nonsense!” he said tohimself, struck by another thought, of a sudden. “Why, she was immenselysurprised to find me there on the verandah, and laughed and talked about_tea!_ And yet she had this little