Chapter I
Your heart is a sponge soaked in gall and vinegar.
unpublished correspondence. #
At the corner of a small square, in front of a wooden house, He was the coach, a rare phenomenon in this remote part of the city. The driver was asleep lying on the box, and postilion played snowballs with farm boys.
In the room, tastefully decorated and luxury, on the couch, propped up with pillows, dressed with great sophistication, lay pale lady, not too young, but still beautiful. Front of the fireplace sat a young man of 26 years, fingering English novel sheets.
The pale lady did not take her black and sunken eyes off him, surrounded by the blue of the painful. dusk, fireplace gasnul; the young man went on with his reading. Finally she said,:
- What's the matter with you, Valerian? today you angry.
- Angry, - he answered, without raising his eyes from his book,.
- Whom?
- To Prince Goretsky. He now Ball, and I have not called.
- And you really wanted to be at his ball?
- Not at all. Damn him with his ball. But if he calls the whole city, I have to call me.
- Which is Goretsky? Does James Prince?
- Not at all. Prince Jacob died long ago. This is his brother, Gregory Prince, known beast.
- Who is he married to?
- On the daughter of that singing ...?
- I haven't left for so long, that does razznakomilas your high society. So you really cherish the attention of Prince Grigory, famous villain, and supportive of his wife, daughter singing?
- And of course, - answered the young man eagerly, throwing the book on the table. - I am a secular person and do not want to be neglected by secular aristocrats. I do not care either before their pedigree, nor to their morals.
- Who do you call our aristocrats?
- Tech, which reaches out Countess Fuflygina.
- And who is Countess Fuflygina?
- Impudent fool.
- And neglect of people, whom you despise, It is to such an extent that troubleth you?! - said the lady, after a pause. "Confess.", there is another reason.
- So: again suspicions! again jealousy! it, by God, unbearably.
With that he got up and took his hat.
- You already go, - said the lady with concern. - You don't want to dine here?
- Not, I gave my word.
- Dine with me, - she continued in a gentle and timid voice. - I ordered to take champagne.
- What is this for? Am I in a Moscow banker? Did I get around without champagne can not?
- But the last time you found, the wine I have bad, you angry, that women do not know in this sense. At you can not please everyone.
- I do not ask and please.
She didn't answer anything. The young man immediately repented of coarseness so last words. He went to her, He took her hand and said tenderly: "Zinaida, forgive me: I did not today your; angry with everyone and everything. At this moment I ought to stay at home ... I'm sorry; do not be angry".
- I'm not mad, Valerian; but it pains me to see, that at some time you have quite changed. You come to me as the line of duty, not by heart suggestion. You're bored with me. you are silent, you do not know what to do, inverted books, to find fault with me, to spat with me and go ... I do not blame you: our heart is not in our power, but I…
Valerian no longer listened to her. He pulled a long time to wear gloves and impatiently glancing at the street. She paused overlooking constrained anger. He shook her hand, He said a few insignificant words, and ran from the room, as a high-spirited student runs out of the class. Zinaida went to the window; I watched, How to file his coach, he sat down and left. For a long time she stood in the same place, leaning his hot forehead on icy glass. - Finally she said out loud: "not, he does not love me", call, ordered to light the lamp and sat down at the writing table.
Chapter II
You write your letters from 4 pages faster than I can read. #
** soon became convinced of his wife's infidelity. It is extremely upset him. He did not know what to decide: pretend nothing seemed to notice him silly; laugh at the misfortunes of so ordinary - scornful; angry in earnest - too noisy; complain overlooking deeply hurt feelings - too funny. Fortunately, his wife came to him for help.
Loving Volodsky, she felt disgusted by her husband, one akin to women and understandable only to them. One day she came into his office, He locked the door behind him and declared, What she likes Volodsky, he did not want to cheat her husband and secretly profane it, and that she had decided to divorce. ** I was alarmed by such candor and rapidly. She did not give him time to recover, on the same day he moved to the Promenade des Anglais in Kolomna, and in a brief note informed about everything Volodsky, Do not expect anything like that ...
He was in despair. I never thought he was bound by such ties. He did not like boredom, afraid of all responsibilities and above all valued his selfish independence. But it was all over. Zinaida remained on his hands. He pretended to be grateful and ready to efforts affair, how to engage in an official or as a boring obligation to verify his monthly bill butler ...
