Page 123 - the-idiot

a little while before, when the prince handed her the note,
and it appeared that this calm surprise and seemingly ab-
solute incomprehension of what was said to her, were more
terribly overwhelming to Gania than even the most plainly
expressed disdain would have been.
‘What shall I write?’ asked the prince.
‘I’ll dictate to you,’ said Aglaya, coming up to the table.
‘Now then, are you ready? Write, ‘I never condescend to bar-
gain!’ Now put your name and the date. Let me see it.’
The prince handed her the album.
‘Capital! How beautifully you have written it! Thanks so
much. Au revoir, prince. Wait a minute,’; she added, ‘I want
to give you something for a keepsake. Come with me this
way, will you?’
The prince followed her. Arrived at the dining-room, she
stopped.
‘Read this,’ she said, handing him Gania’s note.
The prince took it from her hand, but gazed at her in be-
wilderment.
‘Oh! I KNOW you haven’t read it, and that you could nev-
er be that man’s accomplice. Read it, I wish you to read it.’
The letter had evidently been written in a hurry:
‘My fate is to be decided today’ (it ran), ‘you know how.
This day I must give my word irrevocably. I have no right
to ask your help, and I dare not allow myself to indulge in
any hopes; but once you said just one word, and that word
lighted up the night of my life, and became the beacon of
my days. Say one more such word, and save me from utter
ruin. Only tell me, ‘break off the whole thing!’ and I will

1 The Idiot