Page 271 - the-idiot

subject of his frequent absences, and the whole household
was surprised to see Gania, in spite of his depression, on
quite friendly terms with his brother. This was something
new, for Gania had been wont to look upon Colia as a kind
of errand-boy, treating him with contempt, threatening
to ‘pull his ears,’ and in general driving him almost wild
with irritation. It seemed now that Gania really needed his
brother, and the latter, for his part, felt as if he could forgive
Gania much since he had returned the hundred thou-
sand roubles offered to him by Nastasia Philipovna. Three
months after the departure of the prince, the Ivolgin fam-
ily discovered that Colia had made acquaintance with the
Epanchins, and was on very friendly terms with the daugh-
ters. Varia heard of it first, though Colia had not asked her
to introduce him. Little by little the family grew quite fond
of him. Madame Epanchin at first looked on him with dis-
dain, and received him coldly, but in a short time he grew
to please her, because, as she said, he ‘was candid and no
flatterer’ — a very true description. From the first he put
himself on an equality with his new friends, and though he
sometimes read newspapers and books to the mistress of
the house, it was simply because he liked to be useful.
One day, however, he and Lizabetha Prokofievna quar-
relled seriously about the ‘woman question,’ in the course
of a lively discussion on that burning subject. He told her
that she was a tyrant, and that he would never set foot in
her house again. It may seem incredible, but a day or two
after, Madame Epanchin sent a servant with a note begging
him to return, and Colia, without standing on his dignity,

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