Marya Dmitrievna was sitting alone, in her boudoir, in a sofa-chair,
and sniffing eau de Cologne; a glass of orange-flower water was standing
beside her, on a small table. She was excited, and seemed to be timorous.
Lavretzky entered.
"You wished to see me,"--he said, saluting her coldly.
"Yes,"--returned Marya Dmitrievna, and drank a little of the water. "I
heard that you went straight up-stairs to aunty; I gave orders that you
should be requested to come to me: I must have a talk with you. Sit down,
if you please."--Marya Dmitrievna took breath.--"You know,"--she went
on:--"that your wife has arrived?"
"That fact is known to me,"--said Lavretzky.
"Well, yes,--that is, I meant to say, she came to me, and I received her;
that is what I wish to have an explanation about with you now, Feodor
Ivanitch. I, thank God, have won universal respect, I may say, and I
would not do anything improper for all the world. Although I foresaw that
it would be disagreeable to you, still, I could not make up my mind to
refuse her, Feodor Ivanitch; she is my relative--through you: put
yourself in my place--what right had I to turn her out of my house?--You
agree with me?"
"There is no necessity for your agitating yourself, Marya
Dmitrievna,"--returned Lavretzky: "you have behaved very well indeed; I
am not in the least angry. I have not the slightest intention of
depriving Varvara Pavlovna of the right to see her acquaintances; I
only refrained from entering your apartments to-day because I wished to
avoid meeting her,--that was all."
"Akh, how delighted I am to hear that from you, Feodor
Ivanitch,"--exclaimed Marya Dmitrievna:--"however, I always expected
this from your noble sentiments. But that I should feel agitated, is not
wonderful: I am a woman and a mother. And your wife ... of course, I
cannot judge between her and you--I told her so myself; but she is such
an amiable lady, that she cannot cause anything but pleasure."
Lavretzky laughed, and played with his hat.
"And this is what I wished to say to you, Feodor Ivanitch,"--went on
Marya Dmitrievna, moving a little nearer to him:--"if you had only seen
how modestly, how respectfully she behaves!--Really, it is touching. But
if you had heard how she speaks of you! 'I am wholly culpable with regard
to him,' she says; 'I did not know how to appreciate him,' she says; 'he
is an angel,' she says, 'not a man.' Truly, she did say that, 'an angel.'
She is so penitent.... I never beheld such penitence, I give you my
word!"
"Well, Marya Dmitrievna,"--said Lavretzky:--"permit me to ask you a
question: I am told that Varvara Pavlovna has been singing for you; did
she sing during her repentance--or how?"...
"Akh, aren't you ashamed to talk like that! She sang and played merely
with the object of giving me pleasure, because I begged, almost commanded
her to do so. I perceive that she is distressed--so distressed, I wonder
how I can divert her. And I had heard that she had such a fine
talent.--Upon my word, Feodor Ivanitch, she is a completely crushed,
overwhelmed woman--ask Sergyei Petrovitch if she is not, _tout a
fait_,--what have you to say to that?"
Lavretzky simply shrugged his shoulders.
"And then, what a little angel that Ada of your is, what a darling!--How
pretty she is, how clever! how well she talks French; and she understands
Russian--she called me _tyotenka_ [aunty]. And do you know, as for being
shy, like nearly all children of her age,--there is no shyness about her.
She is awfully like you, Feodor Ivanitch. Her eyes, her brows ... well,
she's you all over again, your perfect image. I am not very fond of such
small children, I must confess; but I have simply lost my heart to your
little daughter."
"Marya Dmitrievna,"--exclaimed Lavretzky, suddenly:--"allow me to ask
you why you are pleased to say all this to me?"
"Why?"--again Marya Dmitrievna sniffed at her eau de Cologne, and sipped
her water:--"I say it, Feodor Ivanitch, because ... you see, I am a
relative, I take the closest interest in you.... I know that you have the
very kindest of hearts. Hearken to me, _mon cousin_,--I am a woman of
experience, and I am not talking at random: forgive, forgive your
wife."--Marya Dmitrievna's eyes suddenly filled with tears.--"Reflect:
youth, inexperience ... well, perhaps, a bad example--she had not the sort
of a mother who might have put her on the right road. Forgive her, Feodor
Ivanitch; she has been sufficiently punished."
Tears trickled down Marya Dmitrievna's cheeks; she did not wipe them
away: she loved to weep. Lavretzky sat as on hot coals. "My God,"--he
thought,--"what sort of torture, what sort of a day has fallen to my
lot!"
"You do not answer,"--began Marya Dmitrievna again:--"what am I to
understand by that?--is it possible that you can be so cruel? No, I will
not believe that. I feel that my words have convinced you. Feodor
Ivanitch, God will reward you for your kindness of heart, and you will
now receive your wife from my hands...."
Lavretzky involuntarily rose from his chair; Marya Dmitrievna also
rose, and stepping briskly behind a screen, led forth Varvara Pavlovna.
Pale, half-fainting, with eyes cast down, she seemed to have renounced
every thought, every impulse of her own--to have placed herself wholly in
the hands of Marya Dmitrievna.
Lavretzky retreated a pace.
"You were here?"--he exclaimed.
"Do not blame her,"--said Marya Dmitrievna, hastily;--"she did not wish
to remain on any account whatever, but I ordered her to stay, and placed
her there behind the screen. She assured me that it would only make you
more angry; but I would not listen to her; I know you better than she
does. Receive your wife from my hands; go, Varya, be not afraid, fall at
your husband's feet" (she tugged at her hand)--"and my blessing on
you!..."
"Wait, Marya Dmitrievna,"--Lavretzky interrupted her, in a dull, but
quivering voice:--"you are, probably, fond of sentimental scenes,"
(Lavretzky was not mistaken: Marya Dmitrievna had retained from her
boarding-school days a passion for a certain theatricalness); "they amuse
you; but others suffer from them. However, I will not discuss the matter
with you; in _this_ scene you are not the principal actor. What do _you_
want of me, madam?"--he added, addressing his wife. "Have not I done for
you all that I could? Do not retort, that you have not plotted this
meeting; I shall not believe you,--and you know that I cannot believe
you. What, then, do you want? You are clever,--you never do anything
without an object. You must understand that I am not capable of living
with you as I used to live; not because I am angry with you, but because
I have become a different man. I told you that on the day after your
return, and you yourself, at that moment, acquiesced with me in your own
soul. But you wish to reinstate yourself in public opinion; it is not
enough for you to live in my house, you want to live under one roof with
me,--is not that the truth?"
"I want you to forgive me,"--said Varvara Pavlovna, without raising her
eyes.
"She wants you to forgive her,"--repeated Marya Dmitrievna.
"And not for my own sake, but for Ada's,"--whispered Varvara Pavlovna.
"Not for her sake, but for Ada's,"--repeated Marya Dmitrievna.
"Very good. You wish that?"--ejaculated Lavretzky, with an effort. "As
you like, I agree to that."
Varvara Pavlovna cast a swift glance at him, and Marya Dmitrievna
cried out:--"Well, God be praised"--and again tugged at Varvara
Pavlovna's hand. "Now receive from me...."
"Wait, I tell you,"--Lavretzky interrupted her. "I consent to live with
you, Varvara Pavlovna,"--he continued:--"That is to say, I will take
you to Lavriki, and I will live with you as long as my strength holds
out, and then I shall go away,--and return now and then. You see, I do
not wish to deceive you; but do not demand anything more. You yourself
would smile, were I to comply with the desire of your respected relative,
and press you to my heart, and assure you that ... there had been no
past, that the felled tree could burst into blossom once more. But I
perceive that I must submit. You will not understand that word; ... it
matters not. I repeat, I will live with you ... or, no, I cannot promise
that ... I will join you, I will regard you again as my wife...."
"But give her your hand on that, at least,"--said Marya Dmitrievna,
whose tears were long since dried up.
"Up to the present moment, I have not deceived Varvara
Pavlovna,"--returned Lavretzky;--"she will believe me as it is. I will
take her to Lavriki;--and recollect, Varvara Pavlovna: our compact
will be regarded as broken just as soon as you leave that place. And now,
permit me to withdraw."
He bowed to both ladies, and hastily quitted the room.
"You are not taking her with you,"--called Marya Dmitrievna after
him.... "Let him alone,"--Varvara Pavlovna whispered to her, and
immediately threw her arms round her, began to utter thanks, to kiss her
hands, and to call her her saviour.
Marya Dmitrievna accepted her caresses with condescension; but in her
secret soul she was pleased neither with Lavretzky nor with Varvara
Pavlovna, nor with the whole scene which she had planned. There had
turned out to be very little sentimentality; Varvara Pavlovna, in her
opinion, should have flung herself at her husband's feet.
"How was it that you did not understand me?"--she commented:--"why, I
told you: 'fall at his feet.'"
"It was better thus, dear aunty; do not disturb yourself--everything is
all right,"--insisted Varvara Pavlovna.
"Well, and he is as cold as ice,"--remarked Marya Dmitrievna. "Even if
you did not weep, why, I fairly overflowed before him. He means to shut
you up in Lavriki. The idea,--and you cannot even come to see me! All
men are unfeeling,"--she said, in conclusion, and shook her head
significantly.
"On the other hand, women know how to value kindness and
magnanimity,"--said Varvara Pavlovna, and softly dropping on her knees
before Marya Dmitrievna, she embraced the latter's corpulent form with
her arms, and pressed her face against her. That face wore a quiet smile,
but Marya Dmitrievna's tears were flowing again.
And Lavretzky went home, locked himself up in his valet's room, flung
himself on the divan, and lay there until the morning.