Page 261 - the-idiot

Only Mrs. Epanchin, at the commencement of this period,
had announced that she had been ‘cruelly mistaken in the
prince!’ and a day or two after, she had added, evidently al-
luding to him, but not mentioning his name, that it was an
unalterable characteristic of hers to be mistaken in people.
Then once more, ten days later, after some passage of arms
with one of her daughters, she had remarked sententiously.
‘We have had enough of mistakes. I shall be more careful
in future!’ However, it was impossible to avoid remarking
that there was some sense of oppression in the household—
something unspoken, but felt; something strained. All the
members of the family wore frowning looks. The general
was unusually busy; his family hardly ever saw him.
As to the girls, nothing was said openly, at all events;
and probably very little in private. They were proud dam-
sels, and were not always perfectly confidential even among
themselves. But they understood each other thoroughly at
the first word on all occasions; very often at the first glance,
so that there was no need of much talking as a rule.
One fact, at least, would have been perfectly plain to an
outsider, had any such person been on the spot; and that
was, that the prince had made a very considerable impres-
sion upon the family, in spite of the fact that he had but once
been inside the house, and then only for a short time. Of
course, if analyzed, this impression might have proved to
be nothing more than a feeling of curiosity; but be it what it
might, there it undoubtedly was.
Little by little, the rumours spread about town became
lost in a maze of uncertainty. It was said that some fool-

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