make head nor tail of the matter, and turned as red as a The Idiot
1042 of 1149
lobster; but Varia understood at once that they must get
away as quickly as they could, so she dragged Gania away;
she is a great deal cleverer than he is. As for myself, I went
there to arrange a meeting to be held between Aglaya
Ivanovna and Nastasia Philipovna.’
‘Nastasia Philipovna!’ cried the prince.
‘Aha! I think you are growing less cool, my friend, and
are beginning to be a trifle surprised, aren’t you? I’m glad
that you are not above ordinary human feelings, for once.
I’ll console you a little now, after your consternation. See
what I get for serving a young and high-souled maiden!
This morning I received a slap in the face from the lady!’
‘A—a moral one?’ asked the prince, involuntarily.
‘Yes—not a physical one! I don’t suppose anyone—
even a woman— would raise a hand against me now.
Even Gania would hesitate! I did think at one time
yesterday, that he would fly at me, though. I bet anything
that I know what you are thinking of now! You are
thinking: ‘Of course one can’t strike the little wretch, but
one could suffocate him with a pillow, or a wet towel,
when he is asleep! One OUGHT to get rid of him
somehow.’ I can see in your face that you are thinking
that at this very second.’ The Idiot
1043 of 1149
‘I never thought of such a thing for a moment,’ said the
prince, with disgust.
‘I don’t know—I dreamed last night that I was being
suffocated with a wet cloth by—somebody. I’ll tell you
who it was—Rogojin! What do you think, can a man be
suffocated with a wet cloth?’
‘I don’t know.’
‘I’ve heard so. Well, we’ll leave that question just now.
Why am I a scandal-monger? Why did she call me a
scandal-monger? And mind, AFTER she had heard every
word I had to tell her, and had asked all sorts of questions
besides—but such is the way of women. For HER sake I
entered into relations with Rogojin—an interesting man!
At HER request I arranged a personal interview between
herself and Nastasia Philipovna. Could she have been
angry because I hinted that she was enjoying Nastasia
Philipovna’s ‘leavings’? Why, I have been impressing it
upon her all this while for her own good. Two letters
have I written her in that strain, and I began straight off
today about its being humiliating for her. Besides, the
word ‘leavings’ is not my invention. At all events, they all
used it at Gania’s, and she used it herself. So why am I a
scandal-monger? I see—I see you are tremendously The Idiot
1044 of 1149
amused, at this moment! Probably you are laughing at me
and fitting those silly lines to my case—
‘‘Maybe sad Love upon his setting smiles, And with
vain hopes his farewell hour beguiles.
‘Ha, ha, ha!’
Hippolyte suddenly burst into a fit of hysterical
laughter, which turned into a choking cough.
‘Observe,’ he gasped, through his coughing, ‘what a
fellow Gania is! He talks about Nastasia’s ‘leavings,’ but
what does he want to take himself?’
The prince sat silent for a long while. His mind was
filled with dread and horror.
‘You spoke of a meeting with Nastasia Philipovna,’ he
said at last, in a low voice.
‘Oh—come! Surely you must know that there is to be
a meeting today between Nastasia and Aglaya Ivanovna,
and that Nastasia has been sent for on purpose, through
Rogojin, from St. Petersburg? It has been brought about
by invitation of Aglaya Ivanovna and my own efforts, and
Nastasia is at this moment with Rogojin, not far from
here—at Dana Alexeyevna’s—that curious friend of hers;
and to this questionable house Aglaya Ivanovna is to
proceed for a friendly chat with Nastasia Philipovna, and
for the settlement of several problems. They are going to The Idiot
1045 of 1149
play at arithmetic—didn’t you know about it? Word of
honour?’
‘It’s a most improbable story.’
‘Oh, very well! if it’s improbable—it is—that’s all! And
yet— where should you have heard it? Though I must say,
if a fly crosses the room it’s known all over the place here.
However, I’ve warned you, and you may be grateful to
me. Well—au revoir— probably in the next world! One
more thing—don’t think that I am telling you all this for
your sake. Oh, dear, no! Do you know that I dedicated
my confession to Aglaya Ivanovna? I did though, and how
she took it, ha, ha! Oh, no! I am not acting from any high,
exalted motives. But though I may have behaved like a
cad to you, I have not done HER any harm. I don’t
apologize for my words about ‘leavings’ and all that. I am
atoning for that, you see, by telling you the place and time
of the meeting. Goodbye! You had better take your
measures, if you are worthy the name of a man! The
meeting is fixed for this evening—that’s certain.’
Hippolyte walked towards the door, but the prince
called him back and he stopped.
‘Then you think Aglaya Ivanovna herself intends to go
to Nastasia Philipovna’s tonight?’ he asked, and bright
hectic spots came out on his cheeks and forehead. The Idiot
1046 of 1149
‘I don’t know absolutely for certain; but in all
probability it is so,’ replied Hippolyte, looking round.
‘Nastasia would hardly go to her; and they can’t meet at
Gania’s, with a man nearly dead in the house.’
‘It’s impossible, for that very reason,’ said the prince.
‘How would she get out if she wished to? You don’t
know the habits of that house—she COULD not get away
alone to Nastasia Philipovna’s! It’s all nonsense!’
‘Look here, my dear prince, no one jumps out of the
window if they can help it; but when there’s a fire, the
dandiest gentleman or the finest lady in the world will skip
out! When the moment comes, and there’s nothing else to
be done—our young lady will go to Nastasia Philipovna’s!
Don’t they let the young ladies out of the house alone,
then?’
‘I didn’t mean that exactly.’
‘If you didn’t mean that, then she has only to go down
the steps and walk off, and she need never come back
unless she chooses: Ships are burned behind one
sometimes, and one doesn’t care to return whence one
came. Life need not consist only of lunches, and dinners,
and Prince S’s. It strikes me you take Aglaya Ivanovna for
some conventional boarding-school girl. I said so to her,
and she quite agreed with me. Wait till seven or eight The Idiot
1047 of 1149
o’clock. In your place I would send someone there to
keep watch, so as to seize the exact moment when she
steps out of the house. Send Colia. He’ll play the spy with
pleasure—for you at least. Ha, ha, ha!’
Hippolyte went out.
There was no reason for the prince to set anyone to
watch, even if he had been capable of such a thing.
Aglaya’s command that he should stay at home all day
seemed almost explained now. Perhaps she meant to call
for him, herself, or it might be, of course, that she was
anxious to make sure of his not coming there, and
therefore bade him remain at home. His head whirled; the
whole room seemed to be turning round. He lay down on
the sofa, and closed his eyes.
One way or the other the question was to be decided
at last— finally.
Oh, no, he did not think of Aglaya as a boarding-
school miss, or a young lady of the conventional type! He
had long since feared that she might take some such step as
this. But why did she wish to see Nastasia?
He shivered all over as he lay; he was in high fever
again.
No! he did not account her a child. Certain of her
looks, certain of her words, of late, had filled him with The Idiot
1048 of 1149
apprehension. At times it had struck him that she was
putting too great a restraint upon herself, and he
remembered that he had been alarmed to observe this. He
had tried, all these days, to drive away the heavy thoughts
that oppressed him; but what was the hidden mystery of
that soul? The question had long tormented him, although
he implicitly trusted that soul. And now it was all to be
cleared up. It was a dreadful thought. And ‘that woman’
again! Why did he always feel as though ‘that woman’
were fated to appear at each critical moment of his life,
and tear the thread of his destiny like a bit of rotten string?
That he always HAD felt this he was ready to swear,
although he was half delirious at the moment. If he had
tried to forget her, all this time, it was simply because he
was afraid of her. Did he love the woman or hate her?
This question he did not once ask himself today; his heart
was quite pure. He knew whom he loved. He was not so
much afraid of this meeting, nor of its strangeness, nor of
any reasons there might be for it, unknown to himself; he
was afraid of the woman herself, Nastasia Philipovna. He
remembered, some days afterwards, how during all those
fevered hours he had seen but HER eyes, HER look, had
heard HER voice, strange words of hers; he remembered The Idiot
1049 of 1149
that this was so, although he could not recollect the details
of his thoughts.
He could remember that Vera brought him some
dinner, and that he took it; but whether he slept after
dinner, or no, he could not recollect.
He only knew that he began to distinguish things
clearly from the moment when Aglaya suddenly appeared,
and he jumped up from the sofa and went to meet her. It
was just a quarter past seven then.
Aglaya was quite alone, and dressed, apparently hastily,
in a light mantle. Her face was pale, as it had been in the
morning, and her eyes were ablaze with bright but
subdued fire. He had never seen that expression in her
eyes before.
She gazed attentively at him.
‘You are quite ready, I observe,’ she said, with absolute
composure, ‘dressed, and your hat in your hand. I see
somebody has thought fit to warn you, and I know who.
Hippolyte?’
‘Yes, he told me,’ said the prince, feeling only half
alive.
‘Come then. You know, I suppose, that you must
escort me there? You are well enough to go out, aren’t
you?’ The Idiot
1050 of 1149
‘I am well enough; but is it really possible?—‘
He broke off abruptly, and could not add another
word. This was his one attempt to stop the mad child,
and, after he had made it, he followed her as though he
had no will of his own. Confused as his thoughts were, he
was, nevertheless, capable of realizing the fact that if he did
not go with her, she would go alone, and so he must go
with her at all hazards. He guessed the strength of her
determination; it was beyond him to check it.
They walked silently, and said scarcely a word all the
way. He only noticed that she seemed to know the road
very well; and once, when he thought it better to go by a
certain lane, and remarked to her that it would be quieter
and less public, she only said, ‘it’s all the same,’ and went
on.
When they were almost arrived at Daria Alexeyevna’s
house (it was a large wooden structure of ancient date), a
gorgeously-dressed lady and a young girl came out of it.
Both these ladies took their seats in a carriage, which was
waiting at the door, talking and laughing loudly the while,
and drove away without appearing to notice the
approaching couple. The Idiot
1051 of 1149
No sooner had the carriage driven off than the door
opened once more; and Rogojin, who had apparently
been awaiting them, let them in and closed it after them.
‘There is not another soul in the house now excepting
our four selves,’ he said aloud, looking at the prince in a
strange way.
Nastasia Philipovna was waiting for them in the first
room they went into. She was dressed very simply, in
black.
She rose at their entrance, but did not smile or give her
hand, even to the prince. Her anxious eyes were fixed
upon Aglaya. Both sat down, at a little distance from one
another—Aglaya on the sofa, in the corner of the room,
Nastasia by the window. The prince and Rogojin
remained standing, and were not invited to sit.
Muishkin glanced at Rogojin in perplexity, but the
latter only smiled disagreeably, and said nothing. The
silence continued for some few moments.
An ominous expression passed over Nastasia
Philipovna’s face, of a sudden. It became obstinate-
looking, hard, and full of hatred; but she did not take her
eyes off her visitors for a moment.
Aglaya was clearly confused, but not frightened. On
entering she had merely glanced momentarily at her rival, The Idiot
1052 of 1149
and then had sat still, with her eyes on the ground,
apparently in thought. Once or twice she glanced casually
round the room. A shade of disgust was visible in her
expression; she looked as though she were afraid of
contamination in this place.
She mechanically arranged her dress, and fidgeted
uncomfortably, eventually changing her seat to the other
end of the sofa. Probably she was unconscious of her own
movements; but this very unconsciousness added to the
offensiveness of their suggested meaning.
At length she looked straight into Nastasia’s eyes, and
instantly read all there was to read in her rival’s expression.
Woman understood woman! Aglaya shuddered.
‘You know of course why I requested this meeting?’
she said at last, quietly, and pausing twice in the delivery
of this very short sentence.
‘No—I know nothing about it,’ said Nastasia, drily and
abruptly.
Aglaya blushed. Perhaps it struck her as very strange
and impossible that she should really be sitting here and
waiting for ‘that woman’s’ reply to her question.
At the first sound of Nastasia’s voice a shudder ran
through her frame. Of course ‘that woman’ observed and
took in all this. The Idiot
1053 of 1149
‘You know quite well, but you are pretending to be
ignorant,’ said Aglaya, very low, with her eyes on the
ground.
‘Why should I?’ asked Nastasia Philipovna, smiling
