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"Oh! hush, dear, hush; tell me what he said, and speak lower." Ivanka spoke so low that I heard no more, but what had reached my ear was sufficient to let me know how the current ran, and I was not sorry that poor Bella's mind should be prepared for the terrible reality in this way. The battle of love was fought and won that day at Nicholas's bedside, and, as usual, woman was victorious.
The child ran to her as naturally as the needle turns to the pole. While my mother and I were talking in a low tone about Nicholas, I could not avoid hearing parts of a conversation between my sister and Ivanka that surprised me much. "Yes, oh! yes, I am quite sure of it.
I shall not weary the reader with all that was said. The concluding sentences will suffice. "No, Nicholas," said Bella, holding the right hand of the wounded soldier, while my mother looked on with tearful, and Ivanka with eager, eyes, "no, I will not be discarded. You must not presume, on the strength of your being weak, to talk nonsense.
Ivanka also appeared to revive under those genial influences with which God surrounds His creatures, for she prattled a little now and then about things which attracted her attention on the road; but she never referred to the past.
That evening Ivanka put her arms round my neck, told me she loved Nicholas because of his kindness to her father, and besought me earnestly to tell her what had passed between us. A good deal amused, I told her as much as I thought she could understand. "Oh! I should so like to see Bella," she said. "So you shall, dear, when she comes." "Does she speak Russian?" "Yes.
"Not sure, but I think it was Montreux, on the Lake of Geneva." After all this sad news I found it impossible to enjoy the society of my eccentric friend, and much though I liked him, resolved to leave the place at once and make arrangements to quit the country. I therefore bade him farewell, and hastened back to the inn where I had left Ivanka and Lancey.
Here we were placed under escort, and, with some others, were exchanged and set free. Immediately I hired a conveyance and proceeded to the Russian rear, where I obtained a horse, and, leaving Ivanka in charge of Lancey at an inn, hastened to headquarters to make inquiries about Nicholas and Petroff.
He looked wonderfully real, and I noticed that the fiery frame was not round him as it used to be. A moment later, the pretty face of Ivanka also glided into the picture. "Hallo!" I exclaimed, "I didn't ask you to send her here. Why don't you wait for orders eh?" At this Lancey gently pushed Ivanka away. "No, don't do that," I cried hastily; "I didn't mean that; order her back again do you hear?"
I looked hard at Ivanka and Lancey again for some moments, then at the bed on which I lay. Then a listless feeling came over me, and my eyes wandered lazily round the chamber, which was decidedly Eastern in its appearance. Through a window at the farther end I could see a garden.
I am seated by his side, Ivanka is sitting opposite, near to the invalid's feet, listening intently, if I may be allowed to say so, with her large black eyes, to a conversation which she cannot understand. "You must not take so gloomy a view of your case, Nicholas.
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