“You’re drunk--the police will be sent for if you don’t look out.Think where you are.”
“Yes, he’s boasting like a drunkard,” added Nastasia, as though with thesole intention of goading him.
“I do _not_ boast! You shall have a hundred thousand, this very day.Ptitsin, get the money, you gay usurer! Take what you like for it, butget it by the evening! I’ll show that I’m in earnest!” cried Rogojin,working himself up into a frenzy of excitement.
“Come, come; what’s all this?” cried General Ivolgin, suddenly andangrily, coming close up to Rogojin. The unexpectedness of this sally onthe part of the hitherto silent old man caused some laughter among theintruders.
“Halloa! what’s this now?” laughed Rogojin. “You come along with me, oldfellow! You shall have as much to drink as you like.”
“Oh, it’s too horrible!” cried poor Colia, sobbing with shame andannoyance.
“Surely there must be someone among all of you here who will turn thisshameless creature out of the room?” cried Varia, suddenly. She wasshaking and trembling with rage.
“That’s me, I suppose. I’m the shameless creature!” cried NastasiaPhilipovna, with amused indifference. “Dear me, and I came--like a fool,as I am--to invite them over to my house for the evening! Look how yoursister treats me, Gavrila Ardalionovitch.”
For some moments Gania stood as if stunned or struck by lightning, afterhis sister’s speech. But seeing that Nastasia Philipovna was reallyabout to leave the room this time, he sprang at Varia and seized her bythe arm like a madman.
“What have you done?” he hissed, glaring at her as though he would liketo annihilate her on the spot. He was quite beside himself, and couldhardly articulate his words for rage.
“What have I done? Where are you dragging me to?”
“Do you wish me to beg pardon of this creature because she has come hereto insult our mother and disgrace the whole household, you low, basewretch?” cried Varia, looking back at her brother with proud defiance.
A few moments passed as they stood there face to face, Gania stillholding her wrist tightly. Varia struggled once--twice--to get free;then could restrain herself no longer, and spat in his face.
“There’s a girl for you!” cried Nastasia Philipovna. “Mr. Ptitsin, Icongratulate you on your choice.”
Gania lost his head. Forgetful of everything he aimed a blow at Varia,which would inevitably have laid her low, but suddenly another handcaught his. Between him and Varia stood the prince.
“Enough--enough!” said the latter, with insistence, but all of a tremblewith excitement.
“Are you going to cross my path for ever, damn you!” cried Gania; and,loosening his hold on Varia, he slapped the prince’s face with all hisforce.
Exclamations of horror arose on all sides. The prince grew pale asdeath; he gazed into Gania’s eyes with a strange, wild, reproachfullook; his lips trembled and vainly endeavoured to form some words; thenhis mouth twisted into an incongruous smile.
“Very well--never mind about me; but I shall not allow you to strikeher!” he said, at last, quietly. Then, suddenly, he could bear it nolonger, and covering his face with his hands, turned to the wall, andmurmured in broken accents:
“Oh! how ashamed you will be of this afterwards!”
Gania certainly did look dreadfully abashed. Colia rushed up to comfortthe prince, and after him crowded Varia, Rogojin and all, even thegeneral.
“It’s nothing, it’s nothing!” said the prince, and again he wore thesmile which was so inconsistent with the circumstances.
“Yes, he will be ashamed!” cried Rogojin. “You will be properly ashamedof yourself for having injured such a--such a sheep” (he could not finda better word). “Prince, my dear fellow, leave this and come away withme. I’ll show you how Rogojin shows his affection for his friends.”
Nastasia Philipovna was also much impressed, both with Gania’s actionand with the prince’s reply.
Her usually thoughtful, pale face, which all this while had been solittle in harmony with the jests and laughter which she had seemed toput on for the occasion, was now evidently agitated by new feelings,though she tried to conceal the fact and to look as though she were asready as ever for jesting and irony.
“I really think I must have seen him somewhere!” she murmured seriouslyenough.
“Oh, aren’t you ashamed of yourself--aren’t you ashamed? Are you reallythe sort of woman you are trying to represent yourself to be? Isit possible?” The prince was now addressing Nastasia, in a tone ofreproach, which evidently came from his very heart.
Nastasia Philipovna looked surprised, and smiled, but evidentlyconcealed something beneath her smile and with some confusion and aglance at Gania she left the room.
However, she had not reached the outer hall when she turned round,walked quickly up to Nina Alexandrovna, seized her hand and lifted it toher lips.
“He guessed quite right. I am not that sort of woman,” she whisperedhurriedly, flushing red all over. Then she turned again and left theroom so quickly that no one could imagine what she had come back for.All they saw was that she said something to Nina Alexandrovna in ahurried whisper, and seemed to kiss her hand. Varia, however, both sawand heard all, and watched Nastasia out of the room with an expressionof wonder.
Gania recollected himself in time to rush after her in order to show herout, but she had gone. He followed her to the stairs.
“Don’t come with me,” she cried, “_Au revoir_, till the evening--do youhear? _Au revoir!_”
He returned thoughtful and confused; the riddle lay heavier than ever onhis soul. He was troubled about the prince, too, and so bewildered thathe did not even observe Rogojin’s rowdy band crowd past him and step onhis toes, at the door as they went out. They were all talking at once.Rogojin went ahead of the others, talking to Ptitsin, and apparentlyinsisting vehemently upon something very important.
“You’ve lost the game, Gania” he cried, as he passed the latter.
Gania gazed after him uneasily, but said nothing.
XI.
The prince now left the room and shut himself up in his own chamber.Colia followed him almost at once, anxious to do what he could toconsole him. The poor boy seemed to be already so attached to him thathe could hardly leave him.
“You were quite right to go away!” he said. “The row will rage thereworse than ever now; and it’s like this every day with us--and allthrough that Nastasia Philipovna.”
“You have so many sources of trouble here, Colia,” said the prince.
“Yes, indeed, and it is all our own fault. But I have a great friend whois much worse off even than we are. Would you like to know him?”
“Yes, very much. Is he one of your school-fellows?”
“Well, not exactly. I will tell you all about him some day.... What doyou think of Nastasia Philipovna? She is beautiful, isn’t she? Ihad never seen her before, though I had a great wish to do so. Shefascinated me. I could forgive Gania if he were to marry her for love,but for money! Oh dear! that is horrible!”
“Yes, your brother does not attract me much.”
“I am not surprised at that. After what you... But I do hate that wayof looking at things! Because some fool, or a rogue pretending to be afool, strikes a man, that man is to be dishonoured for his whole life,unless he wipes out the disgrace with blood, or makes his assailant begforgiveness on his knees! I think that so very absurd and tyrannical.Lermontoff’s Bal Masque is based on that idea--a stupid and unnaturalone, in my opinion; but he was hardly more than a child when he wroteit.”
“I like your sister very much.”
“Did you see how she spat in Gania’s face! Varia is afraid of no one.But you did not follow her example, and yet I am sure it was not throughcowardice. Here she comes! Speak of a wolf and you see his tail! I feltsure that she would come. She is very generous, though of course she hasher faults.”
Varia pounced upon her brother.
“This is not the place for you,” said she.
“Go to father. Is he plaguingyou, prince?”
“Not in the least; on the contrary, he interests me.”
“Scolding as usual, Varia! It is the worst thing about her. After all,I believe father may have started off with Rogojin. No doubt he is sorrynow. Perhaps I had better go and see what he is doing,” added Colia,running off.
“Thank God, I have got mother away, and put her to bed without anotherscene! Gania is worried--and ashamed--not without reason! What aspectacle! I have come to thank you once more, prince, and to ask you ifyou knew Nastasia Philipovna before?”
“No, I have never known her.”
“Then what did you mean, when you said straight out to her that she wasnot really ‘like that’? You guessed right, I fancy. It is quite possibleshe was not herself at the moment, though I cannot fathom her meaning.Evidently she meant to hurt and insult us. I have heard curious talesabout her before now, but if she came to invite us to her house, whydid she behave so to my mother? Ptitsin knows her very well; he says hecould not understand her today. With Rogojin, too! No one with a sparkof self-respect could have talked like that in the house of her...Mother is extremely vexed on your
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