Page 141 - the-idiot

start to our eyes, our hands shake; we weep, we embrace—
the battle is one of self-sacrifice now! The prince shouts,
‘She is yours;’ I cry, ‘She is yours—‘ in a word, in a word—
You’ve come to live with us, hey?’
‘Yes—yes—for a while, I think,’ stammered the prince.
‘Prince, mother begs you to come to her,’ said Colia, ap-
pearing at the door.
The prince rose to go, but the general once more laid his
hand in a friendly manner on his shoulder, and dragged
him down on to the sofa.
‘As the true friend of your father, I wish to say a few words
to you,’ he began. ‘I have suffered—there was a catastrophe.
I suffered without a trial; I had no trial. Nina Alexandrovna
my wife, is an excellent woman, so is my daughter Varvara.
We have to let lodgings because we are poor—a dreadful,
unheard-of comedown for us—for me, who should have
been a governor-general; but we are very glad to have YOU,
at all events. Meanwhile there is a tragedy in the house.’
The prince looked inquiringly at the other.
‘Yes, a marriage is being arranged—a marriage between
a questionable woman and a young fellow who might be
a flunkey. They wish to bring this woman into the house
where my wife and daughter reside, but while I live and
breathe she shall never enter my doors. I shall lie at the
threshold, and she shall trample me underfoot if she does. I
hardly talk to Gania now, and avoid him as much as I can. I
warn you of this beforehand, but you cannot fail to observe
it. But you are the son of my old friend, and I hope—‘
‘Prince, be so kind as to come to me for a moment in the

1 0 The Idiot