Shortly after Urbenin had left, I was obliged to go to the Count's
estate, quite against my will. One of the Count's stables had been
broken into at night and several valuable saddles had been carried off
by the thieves. The examining magistrate, that is I, had been informed
and _nolens-volens_, I was obliged to go there.
I found the Count drunk and angry. He was wandering about the rooms
seeking a refuge from his melancholy but could not find one.
“I am worried by that Olga!” he said waving his hand. “She got angry
with me this morning and she left the house threatening to drown
herself! And, as you see, there are no signs of her yet. I know she
won't drown herself. Still, it is nasty of her. Yesterday, all day
long, she was rubbing her eyes and breaking crockery; the day before
she over-ate herself with chocolate. The devil only knows what such
natures are!”
I comforted the Count as well as I could and sat down to dinner with
him.
“No, it's time to give up such childishness,” he kept mumbling during
dinner. “It's high time, for it is all stupid and ridiculous. Besides,
I must also confess she is beginning to bore me with her sudden
changes. I want something quiet, orderly, modest, you know—something
like Nadenka Kalinin . . . a splendid girl!”
After dinner when I was walking in the garden I met the “drowned
girl.” When she saw me she became very red and (a strange woman) she
began to laugh with joy. The shame on her face was mingled with
pleasure, sorrow with happiness. For a moment she looked at me
askance, then she rushed towards me and hung on my neck without saying
a word.
“I love you!” she whispered, clinging to my neck. “I have been so sad
without you. I should have died if you had not come.”
I embraced her and silently led her to one of the summer-houses. Ten
minutes later when parting from her, I took out of my pocket a
twenty-five-rouble note and handed it to her. She opened her eyes
wide.
“What is that for?”
“I am paying you for to-day's love.”
Olga did not understand and continued to look at me with astonishment.
“You see, there are women who love for money,” I explained. “They are
venal. They must be paid for with money. Take it! If you take money
from others, why don't you want to take anything from me? I wish for
no favours!”
Olga did not understand my cynicism in insulting her in this way. She
did not know life as yet, and she did not understand the meaning of
“venal women.”