daughter at that moment. It was all settled in Aglaya’s
mind. She was only waiting for the hour that would bring
the matter to a final climax; and every hint, every careless
probing of her wound, did but further lacerate her heart. The Idiot
1031 of 1149
VIII
THIS same morning dawned for the prince pregnant
with no less painful presentiments,—which fact his
physical state was, of course, quite enough to account for;
but he was so indefinably melancholy,—his sadness could
not attach itself to anything in particular, and this
tormented him more than anything else. Of course certain
facts stood before him, clear and painful, but his sadness
went beyond all that he could remember or imagine; he
realized that he was powerless to console himself unaided.
Little by little he began to develop the expectation that
this day something important, something decisive, was to
happen to him.
His attack of yesterday had been a slight one. Excepting
some little heaviness in the head and pain in the limbs, he
did not feel any particular effects. His brain worked all
right, though his soul was heavy within him.
He rose late, and immediately upon waking
remembered all about the previous evening; he also
remembered, though not quite so clearly, how, half an
hour after his fit, he had been carried home. The Idiot
1032 of 1149
He soon heard that a messenger from the Epanchins’
had already been to inquire after him. At half-past eleven
another arrived; and this pleased him.
Vera Lebedeff was one of the first to come to see him
and offer her services. No sooner did she catch sight of
him than she burst into tears; but when he tried to soothe
her she began to laugh. He was quite struck by the girl’s
deep sympathy for him; he seized her hand and kissed it.
Vera flushed crimson.
‘Oh, don’t, don’t!’ she exclaimed in alarm, snatching
her hand away. She went hastily out of the room in a state
of strange confusion.
Lebedeff also came to see the prince, in a great hurry to
get away to the ‘deceased,’ as he called General Ivolgin,
who was alive still, but very ill. Colia also turned up, and
begged the prince for pity’s sake to tell him all he knew
about his father which had been concealed from him till
now. He said he had found out nearly everything since
yesterday; the poor boy was in a state of deep affliction.
With all the sympathy which he could bring into play, the
prince told Colia the whole story without reserve,
detailing the facts as clearly as he could. The tale struck
Colia like a thunderbolt. He could not speak. He listened
silently, and cried softly to himself the while. The prince The Idiot
1033 of 1149
perceived that this was an impression which would last for
the whole of the boy’s life. He made haste to explain his
view of the matter, and pointed out that the old man’s
approaching death was probably brought on by horror at
the thought of his action; and that it was not everyone
who was capable of such a feeling.
Colia’s eyes flashed as he listened.
‘Gania and Varia and Ptitsin are a worthless lot! I shall
not quarrel with them; but from this moment our feet
shall not travel the same road. Oh, prince, I have felt
much that is quite new to me since yesterday! It is a lesson
for me. I shall now consider my mother as entirely my
responsibility; though she may be safe enough with Varia.
Still, meat and drink is not everything.’
He jumped up and hurried off, remembering suddenly
that he was wanted at his father’s bedside; but before he
went out of the room he inquired hastily after the prince’s
health, and receiving the latter’s reply, added:
‘Isn’t there something else, prince? I heard yesterday,
but I have no right to talk about this... If you ever want a
true friend and servant—neither you nor I are so very
happy, are we? —come to me. I won’t ask you questions,
though.’
He ran off and left the prince more dejected than ever. The Idiot
1034 of 1149
Everyone seemed to be speaking prophetically, hinting
at some misfortune or sorrow to come; they had all looked
at him as though they knew something which he did not
know. Lebedeff had asked questions, Colia had hinted,
and Vera had shed tears. What was it?
At last, with a sigh of annoyance, he said to himself that
it was nothing but his own cursed sickly suspicion. His
face lighted up with joy when, at about two o’clock, he
espied the Epanchins coming along to pay him a short
visit, ‘just for a minute.’ They really had only come for a
minute.
Lizabetha Prokofievna had announced, directly after
lunch, that they would all take a walk together. The
information was given in the form of a command, without
explanation, drily and abruptly. All had issued forth in
obedience to the mandate; that is, the girls, mamma, and
Prince S. Lizabetha Prokofievna went off in a direction
exactly contrary to the usual one, and all understood very
well what she was driving at, but held their peace, fearing
to irritate the good lady. She, as though anxious to avoid
any conversation, walked ahead, silent and alone. At last
Adelaida remarked that it was no use racing along at such a
pace, and that she could not keep up with her mother. The Idiot
1035 of 1149
‘Look here,’ said Lizabetha Prokofievna, turning round
suddenly; ‘we are passing his house. Whatever Aglaya may
think, and in spite of anything that may happen, he is not
a stranger to us; besides which, he is ill and in misfortune.
I, for one, shall call in and see him. Let anyone follow me
who cares to.’
Of course every one of them followed her.
The prince hastened to apologize, very properly, for
yesterday’s mishap with the vase, and for the scene
generally.
‘Oh, that’s nothing,’ replied Lizabetha; ‘I’m not sorry
for the vase, I’m sorry for you. H’m! so you can see that
there was a ‘scene,’ can you? Well, it doesn’t matter much,
for everyone must realize now that it is impossible to be
hard on you. Well, au revoir. I advise you to have a walk,
and then go to sleep again if you can. Come in as usual, if
you feel inclined; and be assured, once for all, whatever
happens, and whatever may have happened, you shall
always remain the friend of the family—mine, at all events.
I can answer for myself.’
In response to this challenge all the others chimed in
and re- echoed mamma’s sentiments.
And so they took their departure; but in this hasty and
kindly designed visit there was hidden a fund of cruelty The Idiot
1036 of 1149
which Lizabetha Prokofievna never dreamed of. In the
words ‘as usual,’ and again in her added, ‘mine, at all
events,’ there seemed an ominous knell of some evil to
come.
The prince began to think of Aglaya. She had certainly
given him a wonderful smile, both at coming and again at
leave-taking, but had not said a word, not even when the
others all professed their friendship for him. She had
looked very intently at him, but that was all. Her face had
been paler than usual; she looked as though she had slept
badly.
The prince made up his mind that he would make a
point of going there ‘as usual,’ tonight, and looked
feverishly at his watch.
Vera came in three minutes after the Epanchins had
left. ‘Lef Nicolaievitch,’ she said, ‘Aglaya Ivanovna has just
given me a message for you.’
The prince trembled.
‘Is it a note?’
‘No, a verbal message; she had hardly time even for
that. She begs you earnestly not to go out of the house for
a single moment all to-day, until seven o’clock in the
evening. It may have been nine; I didn’t quite hear.’
‘But—but, why is this? What does it mean?’ The Idiot
1037 of 1149
‘I don’t know at all; but she said I was to tell you
particularly.’
‘Did she say that?’
‘Not those very words. She only just had time to
whisper as she went by; but by the way she looked at me I
knew it was important. She looked at me in a way that
made my heart stop beating.’
The prince asked a few more questions, and though he
learned nothing else, he became more and more agitated.
Left alone, he lay down on the sofa, and began to
think.
‘Perhaps,’ he thought, ‘someone is to be with them
until nine tonight and she is afraid that I may come and
make a fool of myself again, in public.’ So he spent his
time longing for the evening and looking at his watch. But
the clearing-up of the mystery came long before the
evening, and came in the form of a new and agonizing
riddle.
Half an hour after the Epanchins had gone, Hippolyte
arrived, so tired that, almost unconscious, he sank into a
chair, and broke into such a fit of coughing that he could
not stop. He coughed till the blood came. His eyes
glittered, and two red spots on his cheeks grew brighter
and brighter. The prince murmured something to him, The Idiot
1038 of 1149
but Hippolyte only signed that he must be left alone for a
while, and sat silent. At last he came to himself.
‘I am off,’ he said, hoarsely, and with difficulty.
‘Shall I see you home?’ asked the prince, rising from his
seat, but suddenly stopping short as he remembered
Aglaya’s prohibition against leaving the house. Hippolyte
laughed.
‘I don’t mean that I am going to leave your house,’ he
continued, still gasping and coughing. ‘On the contrary, I
thought it absolutely necessary to come and see you;
otherwise I should not have troubled you. I am off there,
you know, and this time I believe, seriously, that I am off!
It’s all over. I did not come here for sympathy, believe me.
I lay down this morning at ten o’clock with the intention
of not rising again before that time; but I thought it over
and rose just once more in order to come here; from
which you may deduce that I had some reason for wishing
to come.’
‘It grieves me to see you so, Hippolyte. Why didn’t
you send me a message? I would have come up and saved
you this trouble.’
‘Well, well! Enough! You’ve pitied me, and that’s all
that good manners exact. I forgot, how are you?’
‘I’m all right; yesterday I was a little—‘ The Idiot
1039 of 1149
‘I know, I heard; the china vase caught it! I’m sorry I
wasn’t there. I’ve come about something important. In the
first place I had, the pleasure of seeing Gavrila
Ardalionovitch and Aglaya Ivanovna enjoying a
rendezvous on the green bench in the park. I was
astonished to see what a fool a man can look. I remarked
upon the fact to Aglaya Ivanovna when he had gone. I
don’t think anything ever surprises you, prince!’ added
Hippolyte, gazing incredulously at the prince’s calm
demeanour. ‘To be astonished by nothing is a sign, they
say, of a great intellect. In my opinion it would serve
equally well as a sign of great foolishness. I am not hinting
about you; pardon me! I am very unfortunate today in my
expressions.
‘I knew yesterday that Gavrila Ardalionovitch—’ began
the prince, and paused in evident confusion, though
Hippolyte had shown annoyance at his betraying no
surprise.
‘You knew it? Come, that’s news! But no—perhaps
better not tell me. And were you a witness of the
meeting?’
‘If you were there yourself you must have known that I
was NOT there!’ The Idiot
1040 of 1149
‘Oh! but you may have been sitting behind the bushes
somewhere. However, I am very glad, on your account,
of course. I was beginning to be afraid that Mr. Gania—
might have the preference!’
‘May I ask you, Hippolyte, not to talk of this subject?
And not to use such expressions?’
‘Especially as you know all, eh?’
‘You are wrong. I know scarcely anything, and Aglaya
Ivanovna is aware that I know nothing. I knew nothing
whatever about this meeting. You say there was a
meeting. Very well; let’s leave it so—‘
‘Why, what do you mean? You said you knew, and
now suddenly you know nothing! You say ‘very well; let’s
leave it so.’ But I say, don’t be so confiding, especially as
you know nothing. You are confiding simply BECAUSE
you know nothing. But do you know what these good
people have in their minds’ eye—Gania and his sister?
Perhaps you are suspicious? Well, well, I’ll drop the
subject!’ he added, hastily, observing the prince’s impatient
gesture. ‘But I’ve come to you on my own business; I
wish to make you a clear explanation. What a nuisance it
is that one cannot die without explanations! I have made
such a quantity of them already. Do you wish to hear
what I have to say?’ The Idiot
1041 of 1149
‘Speak away, I am listening.’
‘Very well, but I’ll change my mind, and begin about
Gania. Just fancy to begin with, if you can, that I, too, was
given an appointment at the green bench today! However,
I won’t deceive you; I asked for the appointment. I said I
had a secret to disclose. I don’t know whether I came
there too early, I think I must have; but scarcely had I sat
down beside Aglaya Ivanovna than I saw Gavrila
Ardalionovitch and his sister Varia coming along, arm in
arm, just as though they were enjoying a morning walk
together. Both of them seemed very much astonished, not
to say disturbed, at seeing me; they evidently had not
expected the pleasure. Aglaya Ivanovna blushed up, and
was actually a little confused. I don’t know whether it was
merely because I was there, or whether Gania’s beauty was
too much for her! But anyway, she turned crimson, and
then finished up the business in a very funny manner. She
jumped up from her seat, bowed back to Gania, smiled to
Varia, and suddenly observed: ‘I only came here to express
my gratitude for all your kind wishes on my behalf, and to
say that if I find I need your services, believe me—’ Here
she bowed them away, as it were, and they both marched
off again, looking very foolish. Gania evidently could not
