The Idiot Page 8

hadbeen in the habit of according to her; and Mrs. General Epanchin hadjudged it better to say nothing about it, though, of course, she waswell aware of the fact.

  It is true that her nature sometimes rebelled against these dictatesof reason, and that she grew yearly more capricious and impatient; buthaving a respectful and well-disciplined husband under her thumb atall times, she found it possible, as a rule, to empty any littleaccumulations of spleen upon his head, and therefore the harmony of thefamily was kept duly balanced, and things went as smoothly as familymatters can.

  Mrs. Epanchin had a fair appetite herself, and generally took her shareof the capital mid-day lunch which was always served for the girls, andwhich was nearly as good as a dinner. The young ladies used to have acup of coffee each before this meal, at ten o’clock, while still in bed.This was a favourite and unalterable arrangement with them. At half-pasttwelve, the table was laid in the small dining-room, and occasionallythe general himself appeared at the family gathering, if he had time.

  Besides tea and coffee, cheese, honey, butter, pan-cakes of variouskinds (the lady of the house loved these best), cutlets, and so on,there was generally strong beef soup, and other substantial delicacies.

  On the particular morning on which our story has opened, the family hadassembled in the dining-room, and were waiting the general’s appearance,the latter having promised to come this day. If he had been one momentlate, he would have been sent for at once; but he turned up punctually.

  As he came forward to wish his wife good-morning and kiss her hands, ashis custom was, he observed something in her look which boded ill. Hethought he knew the reason, and had expected it, but still, he was notaltogether comfortable. His daughters advanced to kiss him, too, andthough they did not look exactly angry, there was something strange intheir expression as well.

  The general was, owing to certain circumstances, a little inclined to betoo suspicious at home, and needlessly nervous; but, as an experiencedfather and husband, he judged it better to take measures at once toprotect himself from any dangers there might be in the air.

  However, I hope I shall not interfere with the proper sequence of mynarrative too much, if I diverge for a moment at this point, in orderto explain the mutual relations between General Epanchin’s family andothers acting a part in this history, at the time when we take up thethread of their destiny. I have already stated that the general, thoughhe was a man of lowly origin, and of poor education, was, for all that,an experienced and talented husband and father. Among other things,he considered it undesirable to hurry his daughters to the matrimonialaltar and to worry them too much with assurances of his paternal wishesfor their happiness, as is the custom among parents of many grown-updaughters. He even succeeded in ranging his wife on his side on thisquestion, though he found the feat very difficult to accomplish, becauseunnatural; but the general’s arguments were conclusive, and founded uponobvious facts. The general considered that the girls’ taste and goodsense should be allowed to develop and mature deliberately, and that theparents’ duty should merely be to keep watch, in order that no strangeor undesirable choice be made; but that the selection once effected,both father and mother were bound from that moment to enter heart andsoul into the cause, and to see that the matter progressed withouthindrance until the altar should be happily reached.

  Besides this, it was clear that the Epanchins’ position gained eachyear, with geometrical accuracy, both as to financial solidity andsocial weight; and, therefore, the longer the girls waited, the betterwas their chance of making a brilliant match.

  But again, amidst the incontrovertible facts just recorded, one more,equally significant, rose up to confront the family; and this was,that the eldest daughter, Alexandra, had imperceptibly arrived at hertwenty-fifth birthday. Almost at the same moment, Afanasy IvanovitchTotski, a man of immense wealth, high connections, and good standing,announced his intention of marrying. Afanasy Ivanovitch was a gentlemanof fifty-five years of age, artistically gifted, and of most refinedtastes. He wished to marry well, and, moreover, he was a keen admirerand judge of beauty.

  Now, since Totski had, of late, been upon terms of great cordiality withEpanchin, which excellent relations were intensified by the fact thatthey were, so to speak, partners in several financial enterprises, itso happened that the former now put in a friendly request to the generalfor counsel with regard to the important step he meditated. Might hesuggest, for instance, such a thing as a marriage between himself andone of the general’s daughters?

  Evidently the quiet, pleasant current of the family life of theEpanchins was about to undergo a change.

  The undoubted beauty of the family, _par excellence_, was the youngest,Aglaya, as aforesaid. But Totski himself, though an egotist of theextremest type, realized that he had no chance there; Aglaya was clearlynot for such as he.

  Perhaps the sisterly love and friendship of the three girls had more orless exaggerated Aglaya’s chances of happiness. In their opinion, thelatter’s destiny was not merely to be very happy; she was to live ina heaven on earth. Aglaya’s husband was to be a compendium of all thevirtues, and of all success, not to speak of fabulous wealth. The twoelder sisters had agreed that all was to be sacrificed by them, if needbe, for Aglaya’s sake; her dowry was to be colossal and unprecedented.

  The general and his wife were aware of this agreement, and, therefore,when Totski suggested himself for one of the sisters, the parents madeno doubt that one of the two elder girls would probably accept theoffer, since Totski would certainly make no difficulty as to dowry. Thegeneral valued the proposal very highly. He knew life, and realized whatsuch an offer was worth.

  The answer of the sisters to the communication was, if not conclusive,at least consoling and hopeful. It made known that the eldest,Alexandra, would very likely be disposed to listen to a proposal.

  Alexandra was a good-natured girl, though she had a will of her own. Shewas intelligent and kind-hearted, and, if she were to marry Totski, shewould make him a good wife. She did not care for a brilliant marriage;she was eminently a woman calculated to soothe and sweeten the life ofany man; decidedly pretty, if not absolutely handsome. What better couldTotski wish?

  So the matter crept slowly forward. The general and Totski had agreed toavoid any hasty and irrevocable step. Alexandra’s parents had not evenbegun to talk to their daughters freely upon the subject, when suddenly,as it were, a dissonant chord was struck amid the harmony of theproceedings. Mrs. Epanchin began to show signs of discontent, andthat was a serious matter. A certain circumstance had crept in, adisagreeable and troublesome factor, which threatened to overturn thewhole business.

  This circumstance had come into existence eighteen years before. Closeto an estate of Totski’s, in one of the central provinces of Russia,there lived, at that time, a poor gentleman whose estate was of thewretchedest description. This gentleman was noted in the district forhis persistent ill-fortune; his name was Barashkoff, and, as regardsfamily and descent, he was vastly superior to Totski, but his estate wasmortgaged to the last acre. One day, when he had ridden over to the townto see a creditor, the chief peasant of his village followed him shortlyafter, with the news that his house had been burnt down, and that hiswife had perished with it, but his children were safe.

  Even Barashkoff, inured to the storms of evil fortune as he was, couldnot stand this last stroke. He went mad and died shortly after in thetown hospital. His estate was sold for the creditors; and the littlegirls--two of them, of seven and eight years of age respectively,--wereadopted by Totski, who undertook their maintenance and education in thekindness of his heart. They were brought up together with the childrenof his German bailiff. Very soon, however, there was only one ofthem left--Nastasia Philipovna--for the other little one died ofwhooping-cough. Totski, who was living abroad at this time, very soonforgot all about the child; but five years after, returning to Russia,it struck him that he would like to look over his estate and see howmatters were going there, and, arrived at his bailiff’s house, he
wasnot long in discovering that among the children of the latter there nowdwelt a most lovely little girl of twelve, sweet and intelligent, andbright, and promising to develop beauty of most unusual quality--as towhich last Totski was an undoubted authority.

  He only stayed at his country seat a few days on this occasion, buthe had time to make his arrangements. Great changes took place inthe child’s education; a good governess was engaged, a Swiss lady ofexperience and culture. For four years this lady resided in the housewith little Nastia, and then the education was considered complete.The governess took her departure, and another lady came down to fetchNastia, by Totski’s instructions. The child was now transported toanother of Totski’s estates in a distant part of the country. Hereshe found a delightful little house, just built, and prepared for herreception with great care and taste; and here she took up her abodetogether with the lady who had accompanied her from her old home. Inthe house there were two experienced maids, musical instruments ofall sorts, a charming