Little sixteen-year-old Vera Demidof looked very well in her stylish
Parisian clothes. She was a pretty girl of true Russian type, and,
Russian like, was an adept in the art of keeping up a constant flow of
light talk, half in her native language and half in French, a fashion
in polite society then as now. Vera was with her mother, and with them
stood or moved about among the crowd of visitors at the annual function
of the corps of cadets a young cousin, one Constantine Demidof, a
youthful member of the corps.
"Tell me the notables," said Vera, "especially the military ones,
but don't expect me to admire any of our poor Russians after the
smart-looking French officers! As for your cadets--bah!--you are bigger
than the French, perhaps, but clumsier; and your manners compared with
theirs--the cadets here, I mean--oh! you are bears, my friend, and they
are angels. Imagine, Constantine, _mon ami_, I have spoken to Ney--the
bravest of the brave--only think of it; and one day the Emperor
himself, beautiful man, smiled upon me."
"Oh, come," said Constantine, "if you speak of emperors and beautiful
men, your Napoleon is a mere tub-man, and not to be named in comparison
with our Emperor. You have not yet seen Alexander? A very different
person from his unbeautiful father Paul, wait and see, he will be here
in five minutes. Your Sasha Maximof is to receive a prize at his hands,
lucky Sasha!"
"Sasha a prize--oh, I am glad!" exclaimed Vera--"and for what?"
"For fencing; he is the best fencer of all here; see, he is still busy
with that girl, his latest craze; in charity we will hope that he has
not yet seen you."
"If he did, I think he would not recognise me; he does not know I am
here and it is five years since we met. Presently you shall go and bring
him to me, but not yet. Tell me, Constantine, is Sasha liked here?"
Constantine glanced at his cousin; he caught her eye and smiled.
"Some people like him, I suppose," he said.
"Of whom Constantine Demidof is evidently not one," said Vera, laughing
merrily. "Why not, my friend?"
"How should I? I scarcely know him, he is two years senior to me here,
and that means much."
"I see. I should say, to look at him, that he has a good opinion of
himself."
"Oh, he certainly has that," Constantine laughed. "He is thought
good-looking, you know, and the girls flatter him, I suppose."
"Nevertheless his clothes fit very badly. In Parisian clothes he might
look well, yes, he is not bad; you shall bring him to me, presently, but
do not say who I am; you shall say that there is a lady who desires to
have him presented to her."
At this moment the Emperor Alexander entered the room, preceded by an
aide-de-camp, who first cleared the space about the doorway in order
that his Majesty might enter with effect, which he certainly did.
The Emperor was a splendid-looking man, tall and straight as a pine
stem, and handsome withal; there was perhaps but a single man in all
Russia who was his superior in manly bearing and in stately presence,
and that was his younger brother and successor, Nicholas, who had not
his equal in Europe.
"Oh, he is splendid!" murmured Vera Demidof, gazing in wonder and
admiration--"what a man! Oh, the sight of him makes me proud to be
Russian after all!"
"Ha! it is good to hear you praise something which is not French. Your
'little Corporal' would look but a poor creature beside him, come, admit
it!"
"Bah! one thinks of something else than inches when one sees Napoleon;
nevertheless in the Tsar Alexander God has made a very fine man; they
speak well of him in Paris as a wise ruler."
The Emperor now made a short speech to the cadets, after which he
distributed the prizes, saying a word or two of praise or encouragement
to each successful candidate. Sasha Maximof returned to his place,
flushed and self-conscious, holding the sword of honour which the Tsar
had presented to him with a word of approbation.
"How proud he looks!" said Vera; "I am glad he has won it and that he
has been a success here."
Afterwards, when the Tsar and his suite had departed, she sent young
Constantine to fetch Sasha to her side, in order that she might renew
her acquaintance with him.
"Don't say who it is," she called after him as he moved away, somewhat
unwillingly, to obey her behest. Constantine adored his cousin and would
far rather have had her to himself.
"A lady wishes to have me presented?" said Sasha, frowning slightly.
"Well, I'll come presently; I am busy entertaining another lady, as you
perceive;--stop, which is she?"
Constantine pointed Vera out.
"What, that child?" exclaimed Maximof. "Tell her I have no time to talk
to children."
"She isn't a child, and it's not likely I will give such a message,"
said Constantine angrily. "If you knew----" he paused.
"Well--what?"
"If you knew who she is," stammered Constantine, "you'd go to her."
"Why, is she anybody very particular?" asked the other, devoting a
second and more interested glance in Vera's direction.
"You can only learn all about her by becoming personally acquainted with
her," said the younger lad. "She _is_ somebody rather particular."
"Well, I'll come, if I can, later; there are so many who want to speak
to one on an occasion like this."
Sasha Maximof's companion had listened with amusement to this
conversation; she, too, had glanced at Vera and had recognised her
instantly, for the circumstances of the betrothal of these two were a
matter of common knowledge.
"I see you are looking at the young lady who desires my acquaintance,"
said Sasha, when Constantine had departed; "do you happen to know who
she is?"
"Do you seriously mean to say that you do not?" asked the girl, laughing.
"I'm afraid I cannot recall her name, though I believe I have seen the
face somewhere; one does not take special notice of children; I cannot
imagine why she should be any one in particular, as that little fool
declared. Of course one knows every one who _is_ any body! Well, who is
she?"
"First tell me, do you consider her pretty?"
"Passable--but of course a mere child; she may improve and may go the
other way. She's Russian, of course?"
"Certainly, but has been absent from Russia for five years. Her clothes
are of the last French mode--she has French relations--have I shed light
liberally enough to illuminate your intelligence?"
"She is Vera Demidof, you mean; I did not know she had returned. Well,
she has come too soon, she is a child, I will say neither yes nor no to
her until I can judge of her when full grown." Sasha flushed and looked
aggrieved. His companion laughed.
"You are not a very ardent fiancé," she said. "Remember, it is your duty
to love her; she will expect to be greeted radiantly, to hear words of
endearment, delight at her unexpected return, and so forth; compose your
features, my friend, you are frowning; look pleased, ardent, full of
affection, and so go and do your duty."
"You speak foolishly; it is not for _you_ to bid me perform this
foolery, you who know that my heart contains but one image. You must be
aware that my betrothal is a mere farce, a thing to be shaken off as
easily as assumed. I shall speak to the girl--courtesy demands it, but I
shall pretend no affection."
"Poor child, she will be heart-broken; see how lovingly she gazes at you
even now!"
Sasha looked, but Vera's gaze did not strike him as being aptly
described by the word "loving"; on the contrary, though she turned her
head when she observed that she was watched, he was in time to surprise
what appeared to him to be an indignant rather than a languishing
expression.
As a matter of fact Vera was very angry indeed. Constantine had returned
to her shy and shamefaced.
"Well--is he coming? What did he say?" she had asked.
"His vanity is terrible," said Constantine, "and his manners are even
worse."
"How--what do you mean--does he recognise me and refuse to renew our
acquaintance?"
"Oh no, he did not suspect who you were. He said you were a mere child
and hinted that he had no time to waste upon children."
"Children!" repeated Vera indignantly; "and I in my seventeenth year!
Bah--he has, as you say, no manners. So he has refused to be presented."
"Not quite that! 'I will come, if I can, later,' he said; I think he is
much absorbed, at present, by the lady at his side; it is a different
one, with him, every month."
"I will wait for half an hour, and then, if he comes not, you shall
take me away, Constantine," said Vera; and though the lad at her side
protested against her doing Maximof so much honour, she insisted upon
staying.
Presently, however, seeing that Sasha showed signs of crossing the room
in order to approach her, she said quickly:--
"See, Constantine, now he comes; when it is quite clear that his
intention is to speak to me, I will rise and you shall give me your hand
to escort me away!"
"Good," exclaimed her cousin delightedly. "Yes, that's the way he should
be treated--see, he is approaching--come!"
The two young cousins rose and passed down the room, almost meeting
Sasha Maximof, who stopped, obviously expecting them to do the same.
"Demidof," he said, "be so kind as to present me to your friend."
Vera passed on, taking no notice whatever. Constantine looked round,
over his shoulder.
"You will have to wait now, my friend, until she is a little older," he
said, and Vera pinched his arm with delight.
"Bravo, cousin," she said, "that was splendid."
"It was rather daring," said Constantine, somewhat ruefully, "to a
senior cadet; I don't know what will happen to me."
Sasha returned to his charmer, who, unfortunately, had witnessed his
discomfiture.
"You've met your match, my friend!" she laughed; "she's decidedly
pretty, too, when one sees her closely."
"She's an impudent little minx at any rate," said Sasha, laughing also,
though somewhat artificially, and at the same time flushing hotly; he
was not used to rebuffs from the fair sex. "By such conduct--revealing
a tendency to bad manners--she commits _felo de se_ as regards--well--a
certain object she has in view."
On the way home Vera, following up some train of thought, remarked to
her cousin that it was a pity Sasha Maximof was so good-looking; to
which Constantine replied that he did not see much to admire in the
fellow.