After dinner Vera asked him to come over to her in the evening, as she wished him to undertake a commission for her. When he arrived she suggested a walk, and, as she chose the direction of the fields he realised that she wished to go to the chapel, and took the field path accordingly.
As she crossed the threshold, she looked up at the thoughtful face of the Christ.
“You have sought more powerful aid than mine,” said Raisky. “Moreover, you will not now go there without me.”
She nodded in assent. She seemed to be seeking strength, sympathy and support from the glance of the Crucified, but His eyes kept their expression of quiet thought and detachment.
When she turned her eyes from the picture she reiterated, “I will not go.” Raisky read on her face neither prayer nor desire; it wore an expression of weariness, indifference and submission.
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. If necessary, I can stay up all night!”
“I have already spoken to the gardener, who owns the big orangery. Would you choose me a nice bouquet and send it to me. I have confidence in your taste.”
“Your confidence in me makes progress, Vera,” he laughed. “You already trust my taste and my honour.”
“I would have seen to all this myself,” she went on, “but I have not the strength.”
Next day Raisky took the bouquet holder, and discussed the arrangement of the flowers with the gardener. He himself bought for Marfinka an elegant watch and chain, with two hundred roubles which he borrowed from Tiet Nikonich, for Tatiana Markovna would not have given him so much money for the purpose, and would have betrayed the secret. In Tiet Nikonich’s room he found a dressing table decked with muslin and lace, with a mirror encased in a china frame of flowers and Cupids, a beautiful specimen of Sèvres work.
“Where did you get this treasure?” cried Raisky, who could not take his eyes from the thing. “What a lovely piece!”