Page 502 - the-idiot

Before very long two or three young men had come up,
and one or two remained to talk; all of these young men
appeared to be on intimate terms with Evgenie Pavlovitch.
Among them was a young officer, a remarkably handsome
fellow—very good-natured and a great chatterbox. He tried
to get up a conversation with Aglaya, and did his best to
secure her attention. Aglaya behaved very graciously to
him, and chatted and laughed merrily. Evgenie Pavlovitch
begged the prince’s leave to introduce their friend to him.
The prince hardly realized what was wanted of him, but
the introduction came off; the two men bowed and shook
hands.
Evgenie Pavlovitch’s friend asked the prince some ques-
tion, but the latter did not reply, or if he did, he muttered
something so strangely indistinct that there was nothing to
be made of it. The officer stared intently at him, then glanced
at Evgenie, divined why the latter had introduced him, and
gave his undivided attention to Aglaya again. Only Evgenie
Pavlovitch observed that Aglaya flushed up for a moment
at this.
The prince did not notice that others were talking and
making themselves agreeable to Aglaya; in fact, at moments,
he almost forgot that he was sitting by her himself. At other
moments he felt a longing to go away somewhere and be
alone with his thoughts, and to feel that no one knew where
he was.
Or if that were impossible he would like to be alone at
home, on the terrace-without either Lebedeff or his chil-
dren, or anyone else about him, and to lie there and think—a

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