Chapter XVII

On the morning following the day which we have described, at nine o'clock, Lavretzky ascended the porch of the Kalitin house. Liza emerged to meet him, in hat and gloves.

"Where are you going?" he asked her.

"To church. To-day is Sunday."

"And do you really care to go to the Liturgy?"

Liza said nothing, but gazed at him in amazement.

"Pardon me, please,"--said Lavretzky,--"I ... I did not mean to say that. I came to say good-bye to you: I am going to my country place an hour hence."

"It is not far from here, is it?"--inquired Liza.

"Twenty-five versts."

Lyenotchka made her appearance on the threshold of the door, accompanied by a maid.

"See that you do not forget us,"--said Liza, and descended the steps.

"And do not you forget me. And see here,"--he added,--"you are going to church: pray for me also, by the way."

Liza paused and turned toward him.

"Certainly,"--she said, looking him straight in the face:--"I will pray for you. Come along, Lyenotchka."

Lavretzky found Marya Dmitrievna alone in the drawing-room. An odour of eau de cologne and mint emanated from her. She had a headache, according to her own account, and she had passed a restless night. She welcomed him with her customary languid amiability, and gradually got to talking.

"What an agreeable young man Vladimir Nikolaitch is," she inquired:--"is he not?"

"What Vladimir Nikolaitch?"

"Why, Panshin, you know,--the one who was here yesterday evening. He took an immense liking to you; I will tell you, as a secret, _mon cher cousin_, he is simply beside himself over my Liza. What do you think of that? He comes of a good family, he discharges his service splendidly, he is clever, well, and a Junior Gentleman of the Bedchamber, and if it be God's will.... I, on my side, as a mother, shall be very glad. It is a great responsibility, of course: up to the present time, whether it be for good or evil, you see, I am always, everywhere, entirely alone: I have reared my children, I have taught them, I have done everything ... and now I have ordered a governess from Mme. Bolius...."

Marya Dmitrievna launched out into a description of her toils, her efforts, and her maternal feelings. Lavretzky listened to her in silence, and twirled his hat in his hands. His cold, heavy gaze disconcerted the loquacious lady.

"And how do you like Liza?"--she asked.

"Lizaveta Mikhailovna is an extremely beautiful girl,"--replied Lavretzky, rose, bowed, and went to Marfa Timofeevna. Marya Dmitrievna gazed after him with displeasure, and said to herself: "What a dolt, what a peasant! Well, now I understand why his wife could not remain faithful to him."

Marfa Timofeevna was sitting in her own room, surrounded by her suite. It consisted of five beings, almost equally near to her heart: a fat-jowled trained bullfinch, which she loved because he had ceased to whistle and draw water; a tiny, very timorous and peaceable dog, Roska; an angry cat Matros (Sailor); a black-visaged nimble little girl of nine, with huge eyes and a sharp little nose, who was named Schurotchka; and an elderly woman, fifty years of age, in a white cap, and a light brown, bob-tailed jacket over a dark gown, by name Nastasya Karpovna Ogarkoff. Schurotchka was of the petty burgher class, a full orphan. Marfa Timofeevna had taken charge of her out of pity, as she had of Roska: she had picked up both the dog and the girl in the street; both were thin and hungry, both were being drenched by the autumnal rain, no one had hunted up Roska, and Schurotchka's uncle, a drunken shoemaker, who had not enough to eat himself, and who did not feed his niece, though he beat her over the head with his last, gladly surrendered her to Marfa Timofeevna. With Nastasya Karpovna, Marfa Timofeevna had made acquaintance on a pilgrimage, in a monastery; she herself had gone up to her in church (Marfa Timofeevna liked her because, to use her own words, "she prayed tastily"), had herself begun the conversation, and had invited her to come to her for a cup of tea. From that day forth, she had never parted with her. Nastasya Karpovna was a woman of the merriest and gentlest disposition, a childless widow, member of a poverty-stricken family of the petty nobility; she had a round, grey head, soft white hands, a soft face, with large, kindly features, and a rather ridiculous snub nose; she fairly worshipped Marfa Timofeevna, and the latter loved her greatly, although she jeered at her tender heart: Nastasya Karpovna felt a weakness for all young people, and involuntarily blushed like a girl at the most innocent jest. Her entire capital consisted of twelve hundred paper rubles; she lived at the expense of Marfa Timofeevna, but on equal terms with her: Marfa Timofeevna would not have tolerated servility.

"Ah, Fedya!" she began, as soon as she caught sight of him:--"last night, thou didst not see my family: admire it. We are all assembled for tea; this is our second, feast-day tea. Thou mayest pet all: only Schurotchka will not allow thee, and the cat scratches. Art thou going away to-day?"

"Yes,"--Lavretzky seated himself on a narrow little chair.--"I have already said farewell to Marya Dmitrievna. I have also seen Lizaveta Mikhailovna."

"Call her Liza, my father,--why should she be Mikhailovna to thee! And sit still, or thou wilt break Schurotchka's chair."

"She has gone to church,"--pursued Lavretzky. "Is she pious?"

"Yes, Fedya,--very. More than thou and I, Fedya."

"But are not you pious?"--remarked Nastasya Karpovna, in a whisper. "And to-day: you did not get to the early Liturgy, but you will go to the later one."

"Not a bit of it--thou wilt go alone: I am lazy, my mother,"--retorted Marfa Timofeevna,--"I am pampering myself greatly with my tea."--She called Nastasya _thou_, although she lived on equal terms with her,--she was not a Pestoff for nothing: three Pestoffs are recorded with distinction in the Book of Remembrance of Ivan Vasilievitch, the Terrible;[7] Marfa Timofeevna knew it.

"Tell me, please,"--began Lavretzky again:--"Marya Dmitrievna has just been talking about that ... what's his name ... Panshin. What sort of a person is he?"

"What a chatterbox, the Lord forgive her!"--grumbled Marfa Timofeevna:--"I suppose she imparted to you, as a secret, what a fine suitor has turned up. She might do her whispering with her priest's son; but no, that is not enough for her. But there's nothing in it, as yet, and thank God for that! but she's babbling already."

"Why 'thank God'?"--asked Lavretzky.

"Why, because the young fellow does not please me; and what is there to rejoice about?"

"He does not please you?"

"Yes, he cannot fascinate everybody. It's enough that Nastasya Karpovna here should be in love with him."

The poor widow was thoroughly startled.

"What makes you say that, Marfa Timofeevna? You do not fear God!"--she exclaimed, and a blush instantly suffused her face and neck.

"And he certainly knows the rogue,"--Marfa Timofeevna interrupted her:--"he knows how to captivate her: he presented her with a snuff-box. Fedya, ask her to give thee a pinch of snuff; thou wilt see what a splendid snuff-box it is: on the lid is depicted a hussar on horseback. Thou hadst better not defend thyself, my mother."

Nastasya Karpovna merely repelled the suggestion with a wave of her hands.

"Well,"--inquired Lavretzky,--"and is Liza not indifferent to him?"

"Apparently, she likes him,--however, the Lord only knows. Another man's soul, thou knowest, is a dark forest, much more the soul of a young girl. Now, there's Schurotchka's soul--try to dissect that! Why has she been hiding herself, and yet does not go away, ever since thou camest?"

Schurotchka snorted with suppressed laughter and ran out of the room, and Lavretzky rose from his seat.

"Yes,"--he said slowly:--"a maiden's soul is not to be divined."

He began to take leave.

"Well? Shall we see thee again soon?"--asked Marfa Timofeevna.

"That's as it may happen, aunty; it is not far off."

"Yes, but thou art going to Vasilievskoe. Thou wilt not live at Lavriki:--well, that is thy affair; only, go and salute the tomb of thy mother, and the tomb of thy grandmother too, by the bye. Thou hast acquired all sorts of learning yonder abroad, and who knows, perchance they will feel it in their graves that thou hast come to them. And don't forget, Fedya, to have a requiem service celebrated for Glafira Petrovna also; here's a silver ruble for thee. Take it, take it, I want to pay for having a requiem service for her. During her lifetime I did not like her, but there's no denying it, the woman had plenty of character. She was a clever creature; and she did not wrong thee, either. And now go, with God's blessing, or thou wilt grow weary of me."

And Marfa Timofeevna embraced her nephew.

"And Liza shall not marry Panshin,--don't worry about that; that's not the sort of husband she deserves."

"Why, I am not worrying in the least," replied Lavretzky, and withdrew.

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[7] Ivan the Terrible left a long record of his distinguished victims,
for the repose of whose souls he ordered prayers to be said in
perpetuity. "Book of Remembrance" contains the names of persons who
are to be prayed for at the general requiem services, and so forth.
--Translator.