Page 350 - the-idiot

the next day at latest.
So next day the prince was expected all the morning,
and at dinner, tea, and supper; and when he did not appear
in the evening, Mrs. Epanchin quarrelled with everyone in
the house, finding plenty of pretexts without so much as
mentioning the prince’s name.
On the third day there was no talk of him at all, until
Aglaya remarked at dinner: ‘Mamma is cross because the
prince hasn’t turned up,’ to which the general replied that it
was not his fault.
Mrs. Epanchin misunderstood the observation, and
rising from her place she left the room in majestic wrath.
In the evening, however, Colia came with the story of the
prince’s adventures, so far as he knew them. Mrs. Epanchin
was triumphant; although Colia had to listen to a long lec-
ture. ‘He idles about here the whole day long, one can’t get
rid of him; and then when he is wanted he does not come.
He might have sent a line if he did not wish to inconve-
nience himself.’
At the words ‘one can’t get rid of him,’ Colia was very an-
gry, and nearly flew into a rage; but he resolved to be quiet
for the time and show his resentment later. If the words had
been less offensive he might have forgiven them, so pleased
was he to see Lizabetha Prokofievna worried and anxious
about the prince’s illness.
She would have insisted on sending to Petersburg at once,
for a certain great medical celebrity; but her daughters dis-
suaded her, though they were not willing to stay behind
when she at once prepared to go and visit the invalid. Agla-