THE prince now left the room and shut himself up in his own
chamber. Colia followed him almost at once, anxious to do what he
could to console him. The poor boy seemed to be already so
attached to him that he could hardly leave him.
"You were quite right to go away!" he said. "The row will rage
there worse than ever now; and it's like this every day with us—
and all through that Nastasia Philipovna."
"You have so many sources of trouble here, Colia," said the
prince.
"Yes, indeed, and it is all our own fault. But I have a great
friend who is much worse off even than we are. Would you like to
know him?"
"Yes, very much. Is he one of your school-fellows?"
"Well, not exactly. I will tell you all about him some day. . . . What do you think of Nastasia Philipovna? She is beautiful, isn't she? I had never seen her before, though I had a great wish to do so. She fascinated me. I could forgive Gania if he were to marry her for love, but for money! Oh dear! that is horrible!"
"Yes, your brother does not attract me much."
"I am not surprised at that. After what you ... But I do hate
that way of looking at things! Because some fool, or a rogue
pretending to be a fool, strikes a man, that man is to be
dishonoured for his whole life, unless he wipes out the disgrace
with blood, or makes his assailant beg forgiveness on his knees! I think that so very absurd and tyrannical. Lermontoff's Bal Masque is based on that idea—a stupid and unnatural one, in my opinion; but he was hardly more than a child when he wrote it."
"I like your sister very much."
"Did you see how she spat in Gania's face! Varia is afraid of no
one. But you did not follow her example, and yet I am sure it was
not through cowardice. Here she comes! Speak of a wolf and you
see his tail! I felt sure that she would come. She is very
generous, though of course she has her faults."
Varia pounced upon her brother.
"This is not the place for you," said she. "Go to father. Is he
plaguing you, prince?"
"Not in the least; on the contrary, he interests me."
"Scolding as usual, Varia! It is the worst thing about her. After
all, I believe father may have started off with Rogojin. No doubt
he is sorry now. Perhaps I had better go and see what he is
doing," added Colia, running off.
"Thank God, I have got mother away, and put her to bed without
another scene! Gania is worried—and ashamed—not without reason! What a spectacle! I have come to thank you once more, prince, and to ask you if you knew Nastasia Philipovna before
"No, I have never known her."
"Then what did you mean, when you said straight out to her that
she was not really 'like that'? You guessed right, I fancy. It is
quite possible she was not herself at the moment, though I cannot
fathom her meaning. Evidently she meant to hurt and insult us. I
have heard curious tales about her before now, but if she came to
invite us to her house, why did she behave so to my mother? Ptitsin knows her very well; he says he could not understand her today. With Rogojin, too! No one with a spark of self-respect could have talked like that in the house of her... Mother is extremely vexed on your account, too...
"That is nothing!" said the prince, waving his hand.
"But how meek she was when you spoke to her!"
"Meek! What do you mean?"
"You told her it was a shame for her to behave so, and her manner
changed at once; she was like another person. You have some
influence over her, prince," added Varia, smiling a little.
The door opened at this point, and in came Gania most
unexpectedly.
He was not in the least disconcerted to see Varia there, but he
stood a moment at the door, and then approached the prince
quietly.
"Prince," he said, with feeling, "I was a blackguard. Forgive
me!" His face gave evidence of suffering. The prince was
considerably amazed, and did not reply at once. "Oh, come, forgive me, forgive me!" Gania insisted, rather impatiently. "If you like, I'll kiss your hand. There!"
The prince was touched; he took Gania's hands, and embraced him
heartily, while each kissed the other.
"I never, never thought you were like that," said Muishkin, drawing a deep breath. "I thought you—you weren't capable of—"
"Of what? Apologizing, eh? And where on earth did I get the idea
that you were an idiot? You always observe what other people pass
by unnoticed; one could talk sense to you, but—"