Page 383 - the-idiot

on all sides.
‘Let him go on reading at all costs!’ ordered Lizabetha
Prokofievna, evidently preserving her composure by a des-
perate effort. ‘Prince, if the reading is stopped, you and I
will quarrel.’
Colia had no choice but to obey. With crimson cheeks he
read on unsteadily:
‘But while our young millionaire dwelt as it were in the
Empyrean, something new occurred. One fine morning a
man called upon him, calm and severe of aspect, distin-
guished, but plainly dressed. Politely, but in dignified terms,
as befitted his errand, he briefly explained the motive for
his visit. He was a lawyer of enlightened views; his client
was a young man who had consulted him in confidence.
This young man was no other than the son of P—, though
he bears another name. In his youth P—, the sensualist,
had seduced a young girl, poor but respectable. She was a
serf, but had received a European education. Finding that
a child was expected, he hastened her marriage with a man
of noble character who had loved her for a long time. He
helped the young couple for a time, but he was soon obliged
to give up, for the high-minded husband refused to accept
anything from him. Soon the careless nobleman forgot all
about his former mistress and the child she had borne him;
then, as we know, he died intestate. P— ‘s son, born after his
mother’s marriage, found a true father in the generous man
whose name he bore. But when he also died, the orphan was
left to provide for himself, his mother now being an invalid
who had lost the use of her limbs. Leaving her in a distant

The Idiot