Page 269 - the-idiot

The trip abroad might have been enjoyed later on by Mrs.
Epanchin and her two remaining daughters, but for another
circumstance.
It so happened that Prince S— introduced a distant re-
lation of his own into the Epanchin family—one Evgenie
Pavlovitch, a young officer of about twenty-eight years of
age, whose conquests among the ladies in Moscow had
been proverbial. This young gentleman no sooner set eyes
on Aglaya than he became a frequent visitor at the house.
He was witty, well-educated, and extremely wealthy, as the
general very soon discovered. His past reputation was the
only thing against him.
Nothing was said; there were not even any hints dropped;
but still, it seemed better to the parents to say nothing more
about going abroad this season, at all events. Aglaya herself
perhaps was of a different opinion.
All this happened just before the second appearance of
our hero upon the scene.
By this time, to judge from appearances, poor Prince
Muishkin had been quite forgotten in St. Petersburg. If he
had appeared suddenly among his acquaintances, he would
have been received as one from the skies; but we must just
glance at one more fact before we conclude this preface.
Colia Ivolgin, for some time after the prince’s departure,
continued his old life. That is, he went to school, looked after
his father, helped Varia in the house, and ran her errands,
and went frequently to see his friend, Hippolyte.
The lodgers had disappeared very quickly—Ferdishen-
ko soon after the events at Nastasia Philipovna’s, while the

The Idiot