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The portrait, sketched by Tomsky, coincided with the picture she had formed within her own mind, and, thanks to the latest romances, the ordinary countenance of her admirer became invested with attributes capable of alarming her and fascinating her imagination at the same time.

Tomsky was left alone with the young lady. "Who is the gentleman you wish to introduce to the Countess?" asked Lizaveta Ivanovna in a whisper. "Narumov. Do you know him?" "No. Is he a soldier or a civilian?" "A soldier." "Is he in the Engineers?" "No, in the Cavalry. What made you think that he was in the Engineers?" The young lady smiled, but made no reply.

But hearing that Narumov was not an Engineer, she regretted that by her thoughtless question, she had betrayed her secret to the volatile Tomsky. Hermann was the son of a German who had become a naturalised Russian, and from whom he had inherited a small capital.

Three ladies approaching him with the question: "oubli ou regret?" interrupted the conversation, which had become so tantalizingly interesting to Lizaveta. The lady chosen by Tomsky was the Princess Pauline herself. She succeeded in effecting a reconciliation with him during the numerous turns of the dance, after which he conducted her to her chair.

On returning to his place, Tomsky thought no more either of Hermann or Lizaveta. She longed to renew the interrupted conversation, but the mazurka came to an end, and shortly afterwards the old Countess took her departure. Tomsky's words were nothing more than the customary small talk of the dance, but they sank deep into the soul of the young dreamer.

The young man seemed to be very grateful to her; she saw with the sharp eye of youth, how a sudden flush covered his pale cheeks each time that their glances met. After about a week she commenced to smile at him. . . . When Tomsky asked permission of his grandmother, the Countess, to present one of his friends to her, the young girl's heart beat violently.

"Are there any Russian novels? Send me one, my dear, pray send me one!" "Good-bye, grandmother: I am in a hurry... Good-bye, Lizaveta Ivanovna. What made you think that Narumov was in the Engineers?" And Tomsky left the boudoir. Lizaveta Ivanovna was left alone: she laid aside her work and began to look out of the window.

"I cannot understand," continued Tomsky, "how it is that my grandmother does not punt." "Then you do not know the reason why?" "No, really; I haven't the faintest idea. But let me tell you the story. You must know that about sixty years ago my grandmother went to Paris, where she created quite a sensation.

Germain, 'be pleased to listen to me. "Then he revealed to her a secret, for which each of us would give a good deal." The young officers listened with increased attention. Tomsky lit his pipe, puffed away for a moment, and then continued: "That same evening my grandmother went to Versailles to the jeu de la reine.

Tomsky has been promoted to the rank of captain, and has become the husband of the Princess Pauline. It happened in winter, just before the holidays. Ivan Feodorovitch Lobnitchenko, the lawyer, whose office is in one of the main streets of St. Petersburg, was called hurriedly to witness the last will and testament of one at the point of death.