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<h2> CHAPTER XII </h2> On Sunday Tatiana Markovna had guests for the second breakfast. The covers had been removed from the purple damask-covered chairs in the reception room. Yakob had rubbed the eyes of the family portraits with a damp rag, and they appeared to look forth more sharply than on ordinary days. The freshly waxed floors shone. Yakob himself paraded in a dress coat and a white necktie, while Egorka, Petrushka and Stepka, the latter of whom had been fetched from the village and had not yet found his legs, had been put into old liveries which did not fit them and smelt of moth. The dining-room and the reception room had been fumigated just before the meal. Tatiana Markovna herself, in a silk dress and shawl, with her cap on the back of her head, sat on the divan. Near her the guests had taken their places in accordance with their rank and dignity. The place of honour was occupied by Niel Andreevich Tychkov, in a dress coat with an order, an important old gentleman whose eyebrows met in his great fat face, while his chin was lost in his cravat. The consciousness of his dignity appeared in every gesture and in his condescending speech. Next him sat the invariably modest Tiet Nikonich, also in a dress coat, with a glance of devotion for Tatiana Markovna, and a smile for all. Then followed the priest in a silk gown with a broad embroidered girdle, the councillors of the local court, the colonel of the garrison, ladies from the town; young officials who stood talking in undertones in a corner; young girls, friends of Marfinka, who timidly clasped their damp hands and continually changed colour; finally a proprietor from the neighbourhood with three half-grown sons. When the company had already been assembled for some little time at the breakfast-table, Raisky entered. He felt that he was playing the rôle of an actor, fresh to the place, making his first appearance on the provincial stage after the most varying reports had been spread about him. Tatiana Markovna introduced him as “My nephew, the son of my late niece Sfonichka,” though everybody knew who he was. Several people stood up to greet him. Niel Andreevich, who expected that he would come and speak to him, gave him a friendly smile; the ladies pulled their dresses straight and glanced at the mirror; the young officials who were standing eating off their plates in the corner shifted from one foot to the other; and the young girls blushed still more and pressed their hands as if danger threatened. Raisky bowed to the assembled guests, and sat down beside his aunt on the divan. “Look how he throws himself down,” whispered a young official to his neighbour. “His Excellency is looking at him.” “Niel Andreevich has been wanting to see you for a long time,” said Tatiana Markovna aloud, adding under her breath, “His Excellency, don’t forget.” In the same low tone Raisky asked who the little lady was with the fine teeth and the well-developed figure. “Shame, Boris Pavlovich,” and aloud, “Niel Andreevich, Borushka has been desiring to present himself to you for a long time.” Raisky was about to reply when Tatiana Markovna pressed his hand, enjoining silence. “Why have you not given me the pleasure of a visit from you before,” said Niel Andreevich with a kindly air. “Good men are always welcome. But it is not amusing to visit us old people, and the new generation do not care for us, do they? And you hold with the young people. Answer frankly.” “I do not divide mankind into the old and the new generation,” said Raisky, helping himself to a slice of cake. “Don’t hurry about eating; talk to him,” whispered Tatiana Markovna. “I will eat and talk at the same time,” he returned aloud. Tatiana Markovna looked confused, and turned her back on him. “Don’t disturb him,” continued Niel Andreevich. “Young people are like that. I am curious to know how you judge men, Boris Pavlovich.” “By the impression they produce on me.” “Admirable. I like you for your candour. Let us take an example. What is your opinion of me?” “I am afraid of you.” Niel Andreevich laughed complacently. “Tell me why. You may speak quite plainly.” “Why I am afraid of you? They say you find fault with everybody,” he went on, heedless of Tatiana Markovna’s efforts to interrupt. “My Grandmother tells me that you lectured one man for not having attended Mass.” Tatiana Markovna went hot all over, and taking off her cap, put it down behind her. “I am glad she told you that. I like to have my doings correctly reported. Yes, I do lecture people sometimes. Do you remember?” he appealed to the young men at the door. “At your service, your Excellency,” answered one of them quickly, putting one foot forward and his hands behind his back. “I once received one.” “And why?” “I was unsuitably dressed.” “You came to me one Sunday after Mass. I was glad to see you, but instead of appearing in a dress coat, you came in a short jacket.” At this point Paulina Karpovna rustled in, wearing a muslin dress with wide sleeves so that her white arms were visible almost to the shoulder. She was followed by a cadet. “What heat! Bonjour, Bonjour,” she cried, nodding in all directions, and then sat down on the divan beside Raisky. “There is not room here,” he said, and sat down on a chair beside her. “Ah, Dalila Karpovna,” remarked Niel Andreevich. “Good-day. How are you?” “Good-day,” she answered drily, turning away. “Why don’t you bestow a kind glance on me, and let me admire your swanlike neck!” The young officials in the corner giggled, the ladies smiled, and Paulina Karpovna whispered to Raisky: “The rude creature. The first word he speaks is folly.” “Ah, you despise an old man. But if I were to seek for your hand? Do I look like a bridegroom, or am I too old for you?” “I decline the honour. Bonjour, Natalie Ivanovna, where did you buy that pretty hat, at Madame Pichet’s?” “My husband ordered it from Moscow, as a surprise for me.” “Very pretty.” “But listen seriously,” cried Niel Andreevich insistently. “I am going to woo you in earnest. I need a housekeeper, a modest woman, who is no coquette, and has no taste for finery, who never glances at another man, and you are an example.” Paulina Karpovna pretended not to hear, but fanned herself and attempted to draw Raisky into a conversation. “In our esteem,” went on Niel Andreevich, pitilessly, “you are a model for our mothers and daughters. At church your eyes remain fixed on the sacred picture without a moment’s diversion, and never even perceive the presence of young men....” The giggling in the corner increased, the ladies made faces in their efforts to restrain their laughter, and Tatiana Markovna tried to divert Niel Andreevich’s attention from her guest, by herself addressing her, but he returned to the attack. “You are as retiring as a nun,” he went on, “never display your arms and shoulders, but bear yourself in accordance with your years.” “Why don’t you leave me alone?” returned Paulina Karpovna, and turning to Raisky she added: “Est-il bête, grossier.” “Because I wish to marry you, we are a suitable pair.” “It will be difficult to find a wife for you.” “We are well matched. I was still an assessor when you married the late Ivan Egorovich. And that must be—” “How hot it is! Stifling! Let us go into the garden. Please give me my mantilla, Michel,” she said turning to the cadet who had come with her. At this moment Vera appeared, and the company rose and crowded round her, so that the conversation took another turn. Raisky was bored by the guests, and by the exhibition he had just witnessed. He would have left the room, but that Vera’s presence provided a strong incentive to remain. Vera looked quickly round at the guests, said a few words here and there, shook hands with the young girls, smiled at the ladies, and sat down on a chair by the stove. The young officials smoothed their coats, Niel Andreevich kissed her hand with evident pleasure, and the girls fixed their eyes on her. Meanwhile Marfinka was busily employed in pouring out time, handing dishes and particularly in entertaining her friends. “Vera Vassilievna, my dear, do take my part,” cried Niel Andreevich. “Is any one offending you?” “Indeed there is. There is Dalila, no, Pelageia Karpovna—” “Impertinent creature,” said that lady aloud, as she rose and went quickly towards the door. Tatiana Markovna also rose. “Where are you going, Paulina Karpovna?” she cried. “Marfinka, do not let her go.” “No, no, Tatiana Markovna,” came Paulina Karpovna’s voice from the hall, “I am always grateful to you, but I do not wish to meet such a loon. If my husband were alive, no man would dare....” “Do not be vexed; he means nothing by it, but is in reality a decent old gentleman.” “Please let me go. I will come again and see you when he is not here,” she said as she left the house in tears. In the room she had left everyone was in gay humour, and Niel Andreevich condescended to share the general laughter, in which however, neither Raisky nor Vera joined. Paulina Karpovna might be eccentric, but that did not excuse either the loonish amusement of the people assembled or the old man’s attacks. Raisky remained gloomily silent, and shifted his feet ominously. “She is offended and has departed,” remarked Niel Andreevich, as Tatiana Markovna, visibly agitated returned, and resumed her seat in silence. “It won’t do her any harm, but will be good for her health. She shouldn’t appear naked in society. This is not a bathing establishment.” At this point the ladies lowered their eyes, and the young girls grew crimson, and pressed their hands nervously together. “Neither should she stare about her in church and have young men following her footsteps. Come, Ivan Ivanovich, you were once her indefatigable cavalier. Do you still visit her?” he asked a young man severely. “Not for a long time, your Excellency. I got tired of forever exchanging compliments.” “It’s a good thing you have given it up. What an example she sets to women and young girls, going about dressed in pink with ribbons and frills, when she is over forty. How can anybody help reading her a lecture? You see,” he added turning to Raisky, “that I am only a terror to evildoers. Who has made you fear me?” “Mark,” answered Raisky, to the excitement of all present. “What Mark?” asked Niel Andreevich, frowning. “Mark Volokov, who is in exile here.” “Ah! that thief. Do you know him?” “We are friends.” “Friends!” hissed the old man. “Tatiana Markovna, what do I hear?” “Don’t believe him, Niel Andreevich. He does not know what he is talking about. What sort of a friend of yours is he?” “Why, Grandmother, did he not sup here with me and spend the night? Didn’t you yourself give orders to have a soft bed made up for him?” “Boris Pavlovich, for pity’s sake, be silent,” whispered his aunt angrily. But Tychkov was already looking at her with amazement, the ladies with sympathy, while the men stared and the young girls drew closer to one another. Vera looked round the company, thanking Raisky by a friendly glance, and Marfinka hid behind her aunt. “What a confession! You admitted this Barabbas under your roof,” said Niel Andreevich. “Not I, Niel Andreevich. Borushka brought him in at night, and I did not even know who was sleeping in his room.” “You go round with him at night? Don’t you know that he is a suspicious character, an enemy of the administration, a renegade from Church and Society. So he has been telling you about me?” “Yes,” Raisky said. “By his description I am a wild beast, a devourer of men.” “No, you do not devour them, but you allow yourself, by what right God only knows, to insult them.” “And did you believe that?” “Until to-day, no.” “And to-day?” “To-day, I believe it,” agreed Raisky to the terror and agitation of the company. Most of the officials present escaped to the hall, and stood near the door listening. “How so,” asked Niel Andreevich haughtily. “Because you have just insulted a lady.” “You hear, Tatiana Markovna.” “Boris Pavlovich, Borushka,” she said, seeking to restrain him. “That old fashion-plate, that frivolous, dangerous woman!” “What do her faults matter to you. Who gave you the right to judge other people?” “Who gave you the right, young man, to reproach me? Do you know that I have been in the service for forty years, and that no minister has ever made the slightest criticism to me.” “My right is that you have insulted a lady in my house. I should be a miserable creature to permit that. If you don’t understand that, the worse for you.” “If you receive a person who is, to the knowledge of the whole town, a frivolous butterfly, dressing in a way unsuited to her age, and leaving unfulfilled her duties to her family....” “Well, what then?” “Then both you and Tatiana Markovna deserve to hear the truth. Yes, I have been meaning to tell you for a long time, Matushka.” “Frivolity, flightiness and the desire to please are not such terrible crimes. But the whole town knows that you have accumulated money through bribery that you robbed your own nieces and had them locked up in an asylum. Yet my Grandmother and I have received you in our house, and you take it upon yourself to lecture us.” The guests who heard this indictment were horror-stricken. The ladies hurried out into the hall without taking leave of their hostess, the rest followed them like sheep, and soon all were gone. Tatiana Markovna motioned Marfinka and Vera to the door, but Marfinka alone obeyed the indication. As for Niel Andreevich he had become deadly pale. “Who,” he cried, “who has brought you these tales? Speak! That brigand Mark? I am going straight to the Governor. Tatiana Markovna, if this young man again sets foot in your house, you and I are strangers. Otherwise within twenty four hours, both he and you and your whole household shall be transferred to a place where not even a raven can penetrate with food. Who? Who told him? I will know. Who? Speak,” he hissed, gasping for breath, and hardly knowing what he said. “Stop talking rubbish, Niel Andreevich,” commanded Tatiana Markovna, rising suddenly from her place. “You will explode with fury. Better drink some water. You ask who has said it. There is no secret about it, for I have said it, and it is common knowledge in the town.” “Tatiana Markovna!” shrieked Niel Andreevich. “You have your deserts. Why make so much noise about it? In another person’s house you attack a woman, and that is not the action of a gentleman.” “How dare you speak like that to me?” Raisky would have thrown himself on him if his aunt had not waved him aside. Then with the commanding dignity she knew how to assume, she put on her cap, wrapt herself in her shawl, and went right up to Niel Andreevich, while Raisky looked on in amazement, with a sense of his own smallness in her majestic presence. “Who are you?” she began. “A clerk in the chancellery, an upstart. And yet you dare to address a noblewoman with violence. You have too good an opinion of yourself, and have asked for your lesson, which you shall have from me once and for all. Have you forgotten the days when you used to bring documents from the office to my father, and did not dare to sit down in my presence, when you used to receive gifts from my hand on feast-days? If you were an honest man no one would reproach you. But you have, as my nephew says, accumulated stolen wealth, and it has been endured out of weakness. You should hold your tongue, and repent in your old age of your evil life. But you are bursting, intoxicated with pride. Sober yourself and bow your head. Before you stands Tatiana Markovna Berezhkov, and also my nephew Boris Pavlovich Raisky. If I had not restrained him he would have thrown you out of the house, but I prefer that he should not soil his hands with you; the lackeys are good enough.” As she stood there with blazing eyes, she bore a close resemblance to a portrait of one of her ancestors that hung on the wall. Tychkov turned his eyes this way and that seemingly beside himself with rage. “I shall write to St. Petersburg,” he gasped, “the town is in danger.” Then he slunk out, so agitated by her furious aspect that he dared not raise his eyes to her face. Tatiana Markovna maintained her proud bearing, though her fingers grasped nervously at her shawl. Raisky approached her hesitatingly, seeing in her, not his aunt, but another, and to him an almost unknown woman. “I did not understand the majesty of your temperament. But I make my bow, not as a grandson before to an honoured grandmother, but as man to woman. I offer you my admiration and respect, Tatiana Markovna, best of women,” he said, kissing her hand. “I accept your courtesy, Boris Pavlovich, as an honour which I have deserved. Do you accept for your honourable championship the kiss, not of a grandmother, but of a woman.” As she kissed him on the cheek, he received another kiss from the other side. “This kiss is from another woman,” said Vera in a low voice as she left the room, before Raisky’s outstretched arms could reach her. “Vera and I have not spoken to one another, but we have both understood you. We do, in fact, talk very little, but we resemble one another,” said Tatiana Markovna. “Granny, you are an extraordinary woman!” cried Raisky, looking at her with as much enthusiasm as if he saw her for the first time. “Drive to the Governor’s, Borushka, and tell him exactly what has happened so that the other party may not be first with his lying nonsense. I am going to beg Paulina Karpovna’s pardon.” <hr /> <div style="break-after:column;"></div>

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