Page 267 - the-idiot

in search of her, was unknown.
Lizabetha Prokofievna received confirmatory news from
the princess—and alas, two months after the prince’s first
departure from St. Petersburg, darkness and mystery once
more enveloped his whereabouts and actions, and in the
Epanchin family the ice of silence once more formed over
the subject. Varia, however, informed the girls of what had
happened, she having received the news from Ptitsin, who
generally knew more than most people.
To make an end, we may say that there were many chang-
es in the Epanchin household in the spring, so that it was
not difficult to forget the prince, who sent no news of him-
self.
The Epanchin family had at last made up their minds
to spend the summer abroad, all except the general, who
could not waste time in ‘travelling for enjoyment,’ of course.
This arrangement was brought about by the persistence of
the girls, who insisted that they were never allowed to go
abroad because their parents were too anxious to marry
them off. Perhaps their parents had at last come to the con-
clusion that husbands might be found abroad, and that a
summer’s travel might bear fruit. The marriage between Al-
exandra and Totski had been broken off. Since the prince’s
departure from St. Petersburg no more had been said about
it; the subject had been dropped without ceremony, much
to the joy of Mrs. General, who, announced that she was
‘ready to cross herself with both hands’ in gratitude for the
escape. The general, however, regretted Totski for a long
while. ‘Such a fortune!’ he sighed, ‘and such a good, easy-

The Idiot