"Your sister, you tell me--?"
"Yes," he replied bruskly, "I said so. It is foolish; she will drive me
mad. Fortunately, she cannot lie, and confides everything to me. Ah!
what a heart that child has; but she will surely ruin herself!"
"You are certainly in error," I exclaimed, interrupting him.
"No, I am not mistaken. Yesterday she remained in bed the entire day
without taking anything. It is true she did not complain; but she never
does complain. I felt no uneasiness, but towards evening she had a
little fever. About two in the morning our landlady came and awoke me.
"'Go and see your sister,' she said to me; 'I think she is ill.'
"I ran to Annouchka's room, and found her still dressed, consumed with
fever, in tears; her head was on fire; her teeth chattered.
"'What is the matter with you?' I asked.
"She threw herself upon my neck and begged me to take her away, if I
valued her life. Without being able to understand anything, I tried to
calm her; her sobs redoubled, and, suddenly, in the depth of her grief,
she confessed to me,--in a word, I learned that she loves you.--There!
You and I are grown men, governed by reason. Well! we will never
understand how deep are the sentiments that Annouchka feels, and with
what violence they manifest themselves; it is something at once
unforeseen and irresistible, like the bursting of a storm. You are,
without doubt, a very attractive man," continued Gaguine, "but yet, how
have you inspired such a violent passion? I cannot conceive of it, I
confess it! She pretends that, as soon as she saw you, she was attracted
towards you. That is why she wept so much of late in assuring me that
she would never love any one in the world but me. She thinks that you
look down upon her, knowing probably her origin. She asked me if I had
told you her story. I told her No, as you may imagine, but her
penetration frightens me. She had but one thought, that was to go away,
and quickly. I stayed with her until morning. She made me promise that
we should start to-morrow, and only then was she quieted. After mature
reflection, I decided to come and confer with you upon the subject. In
my opinion, my sister is right; the best thing is to leave, and I should
have taken her away to-day if an idea had not occurred to me, and
stopped me. Who knows? Perhaps my sister pleases you; if so, why then
should we part? So I decided, and putting aside my pride, relying upon
some observations that I had made--yes--I decided to come--to come and
ask you"--
Here Gaguine, disconcerted, stopped short.
"Pray excuse me--pardon--I am not accustomed to interviews of this
kind."