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Vera was not capable of answering, but she caressed Marfinka's shoulder affectionately. "I must sit down," she said. "I have slept badly through the night." "Grandmother calls you to Mass." "I cannot, darling. Tell her I am unwell, and cannot leave the house to-day." "What! you are not coming?" "I shall stay in bed. Perhaps I caught cold yesterday. Tell Grandmother." "We will come to you."
The gardener was arranging Marfinka's bouquet. "I want another bouquet," said Raisky unsteadily. "One like this?" "No, only orange blossoms," he whispered, turning paler as he spoke. "Right, Sir," said the gardener, recalling that one of Tatiana Markovna's young ladies was betrothed. "I am thirsty," said Raisky. "Give me a glass of water." He drank the water greedily, and hurried the gardener on.
I will try a repetition of it." "What do you mean? God forbid that you should. You will try to prove that the tale is not true, which is not difficult; it is only necessary to know where Ivan Ivanovich spent the evening before Marfinka's birthday. Supposing he was in his forest, then people will ask who was with Vera in the park.
Tatiana Markovna's anxious solicitude, Marfinka's charming rule, her songs, her lively chatter with the gay and youthful Vikentev, the arrival and departure of guests, the eccentricities of the freakish Paulina Karpovna none of these things existed for him. He only saw that the lilac curtain was motionless, the blinds had been drawn down, and that Vera's favourite bench remained empty.
Her one anxiety, and at the moment the only one perhaps, had been the celebration of Vera's nameday a fortnight ahead, she would have liked to have celebrated it with the same magnificence as Marfinka's birthday, although Vera had roundly declared that on that day she meant to go on a visit to Anna Ivanovna Tushin, or to her friend Natasha. But how Tatiana Markovna had changed since Mass.
Then there were further questions, and I extricated myself with difficulty. The real misfortune, thank God, is concealed. I learned from Tiet Nikonich yesterday, that the gossip is on the wrong track. Ivan Ivanovich is suspected. Do you remember that on Marfinka's birthday he said not a word, but sat there like a mute, until Vera came in, when he suddenly woke up.
Marfinka's marriage is close at hand, there was a great deal to do and my attention was distracted, but yesterday I was violently excited, and am not quite calm now." "What has happened? Can I serve you, Vera Vassilievna?" "I cannot accept your service." "Because you do not think me able...." "Not that.
He suggested that they should return, and reminded her that she had a commission for him. "Will you take the bouquet-holder that I chose the other week for Marfinka's birthday to the goldsmith?" she said, handing him her purse. "I gave him some pearls to set in it, and her name should be engraved. And could you be up as early as eight o'clock on her birthday?" "Of course.
All I have is for my little girls, and, thank God, I am not a pauper. I have a corner of my own, a bit of land, and a roof to cover them. One would think you were a millionaire. You make gifts; you will have this, and you won't have that. Here, Marfinka! where have you hidden yourself?" "Directly!" cried Marfinka's clear voice from a neighbouring room.
Against universal expectation, Marfinka's wedding was a quiet one, no one being invited except a few neighbouring landowners and the important personages in the town, about fifty guests in all.
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