and his wife looked him angrily up and down, as if to demand the meaning of his movement. Then she turned to the prince.
'Thanks, prince, many thanks, eccentric friend of the family, for the pleasant evening you have provided for us. I am sure you are quite pleased that you have managed to mix us up with your extraordinary affairs. It is quite enough, dear family friend; thank you for giving us an opportunity of getting to know you so well.'
She arranged her cloak with hands that trembled with anger as she waited for the 'riff-raff 'to go. The cab which Lebedeff's son had gone to fetch a quarter of an hour ago, by Doktorenko's order, arrived at that moment. The general thought fit to put in a word after his wife.
'Really, prince, I hardly expected after--after all our friendly intercourse-- and you see, Lizabetha Prokofievna--'
'Papa, how can you?' cried Adelaida, walking quickly up to the prince and holding out her hand.
He smiled absently at her; then suddenly he felt a burning sensation in his ear as an angry voice whispered:
'If you do not turn those dreadful people out of the house this very instant, I shall hate you all my life--all my life!' It was Aglaya. She seemed almost in a frenzy, but she turned away before the prince could look at her. However, there was no one left to turn out of the house, for they had managed meanwhile to get Hippolyte into the cab, and it had driven off.
'Well, how much longer is this going to last, Ivan Fedorovitch? What do you think? Shall I soon be delivered from these odious youths?'
'My dear, I am quite ready; naturally ... the prince.'
Ivan Fedorovitch held out his hand to Muishkin, but ran after his wife, who was leaving with every sign of violent indignation, before he had time to shake it. Adelaida, her fiance, and Alexandra, said good-bye to their host with sincere friendliness. Evgenie Pavlovitch did the same, and he alone seemed in good spirits.
'What I expected has happened! But I am sorry, you poor fellow, that you should have had to suffer for it,' he murmured, with a most charming smile.
Aglaya left without saying good-bye. But the evening was not to end without a last adventure. An unexpected meeting was yet in store for Lizabetha Prokofievna.
She had scarcely descended the terrace steps leading to the high road that skirts the park at Pavlofsk, when suddenly there dashed by a smart open carriage, drawn by a pair of beautiful white horses. Having passed some ten yards beyond the house, the carriage suddenly drew up, and one of the two ladies seated in it turned sharp round as though she had just caught sight of some acquaintance whom she particularly wished to see.
'Evgenie Pavlovitch! Is that you?' cried a clear, sweet voice, which caused the prince, and perhaps someone else, to tremble. 'Well, I AM glad I've found you at last! I've sent to town for you twice today myself! My messengers have been searching for you everywhere!'
Evgenie Pavlovitch stood on the steps like one struck by lightning. Mrs. Epanchin stood still too, but not with the petrified expression of Evgenie. She gazed haughtily at the audacious person who had addressed her companion, and then turned a look of astonishment upon Evgenie himself.
'There's news!' continued the clear voice. 'You need not be anxious about Kupferof's IOU's--Rogojin has bought them up. I persuaded him to!--I dare say we shall settle Biscup too, so it's all right, you see! Au revoir, tomorrow! And don't worry!' The carriage moved on, and disappeared.
'The woman's mad!' cried Evgenie, at last, crimson with anger, and looking confusedly around. 'I don't know what she's talking about! What IOU's? Who is she?' Mrs. Epanchin continued to watch his face for a couple of seconds; then she marched briskly and haughtily away towards her own house, the rest following her.
A minute afterwards, Evgenie Pavlovitch reappeared on the terrace, in great agitation.
'Prince,' he said, 'tell me the truth; do you know what all this means?'
'I know nothing whatever about it!' replied the latter, who was, himself, in a state of nervous excitement.
'No?'
'No?
'Well, nor do I!' said Evgenie Pavlovitch, laughing suddenly. 'I haven't the slightest knowledge of any such IOU's as she mentioned, I swear I haven't--What's the matter, are you fainting?'
'Oh, no-no-I'm all right, I assure you!'
XI.
THE anger of the Epanchin family was unappeased for three days. As usual the prince reproached himself, and had expected punishment, but he was inwardly convinced that Lizabetha Prokofievna could not be seriously angry with him, and that she probably was more angry with herself. He was painfully surprised, therefore, when three days passed with no word from her. Other things also troubled and perplexed him, and one of these grew more important in his eyes as the days went by. He had begun to blame himself for two opposite tendencies--on the one hand to extreme, almost 'senseless,' confidence in his fellows, on the other to a 'vile, gloomy suspiciousness.'
By the end of the third day the incident of the eccentric lady and Evgenie Pavlovitch had attained enormous and mysterious proportions in his mind. He sorrowfully asked himself whether he had been the cause of this new 'monstrosity,' or was it ... but he refrained from saying who else might be in fault. As for the letters N.P.B., he looked on that as a harmless joke, a mere childish piece of mischief--so childish that he felt it would be shameful, almost dishonourable, to attach any importance to it.
The day after these scandalous events, however, the prince had the honour of receiving a visit from Adelaida and her fiance, Prince S. They came, ostensibly, to inquire after his health. They had wandered out for a walk, and called in 'by accident,' and talked for almost the whole of the time they were with him about a certain most lovely tree in the park, which Adelaida had set her heart upon for a picture. This, and a little amiable conversation on Prince S.'s part, occupied the time, and not a word was said about last evening's episodes. At length Adelaida burst out laughing, apologized, and explained that they had come incognito; from which, and from the circumstance that they said nothing about the prince's either walking back with them or coming to see them later on, the latter inferred that he was in Mrs. Epanchin's black books. Adelaida mentioned a watercolour that she would much like to show him, and explained that she would either send it by Colia, or bring it herself the next day-- which to the prince seemed very suggestive.
At length, however, just as the visitors were on the point of departing, Prince S. seemed suddenly to recollect himself. 'Oh yes, by-the-by,' he said, 'do you happen to know, my dear Lef Nicolaievitch, who that lady was who called out to Evgenie Pavlovitch last night, from the carriage?'
'It was Nastasia Philipovna,' said the prince; 'didn't you know that? I cannot tell you who her companion was.'
'But what on earth did she mean? I assure you it is a real riddle to me--to me, and to others, too!' Prince S. seemed to be under the influence of sincere astonishment.
'She spoke of some bills of Evgenie Pavlovitch's,' said the prince, simply, 'which Rogojin had bought up from someone; and implied that Rogojin would not press him.'
'Oh, I heard that much, my dear fellow! But the thing is so impossibly absurd! A man of property like Evgenie to give IOU's to a money-lender, and to be worried about them! It is ridiculous. Besides, he cannot possibly be on such intimate terms with Nastasia Philipovna as she gave us to understand; that's the principal part of the mystery! He has given me his word that he knows nothing whatever about the matter, and of course I believe him. Well, the question is, my dear prince, do you know anything about it? Has any sort of suspicion of the meaning of it come across you?'
'No, I know nothing whatever about it. I assure you I had nothing at all to do with it.'
'Oh, prince, how strange you have become! I assure you, I hardly know you for your old self. How can you suppose that I ever suggested you could have had a finger in such a business? But you are not quite yourself today, I can see.' He embraced the prince, and kissed him.
'What do you mean, though,' asked Muishkin, ''by such a business'? I don't see any particular 'business' about it at all!'
'Oh, undoubtedly, this person wished somehow, and for some reason, to do Evgenie Pavlovitch a bad turn, by attributing to him--before witnesses--qualities which he neither has nor can have,' replied Prince S. drily enough.
