Page 57 - the-idiot

one more, equally significant, rose up to confront the fam-
ily; and this was, that the eldest daughter, Alexandra, had
imperceptibly arrived at her twenty-fifth birthday. Almost
at the same moment, Afanasy Ivanovitch Totski, a man of
immense wealth, high connections, and good standing, an-
nounced his intention of marrying. Afanasy Ivanovitch was
a gentleman of fifty-five years of age, artistically gifted, and
of most refined tastes. He wished to marry well, and, more-
over, he was a keen admirer and judge of beauty.
Now, since Totski had, of late, been upon terms of great
cordiality with Epanchin, which excellent relations were in-
tensified by the fact that they were, so to speak, partners
in several financial enterprises, it so happened that the for-
mer now put in a friendly request to the general for counsel
with regard to the important step he meditated. Might he
suggest, for instance, such a thing as a marriage between
himself and one of the general’s daughters?
Evidently the quiet, pleasant current of the family life of
the Epanchins was about to undergo a change.
The undoubted beauty of the family, par excellence,
was the youngest, Aglaya, as aforesaid. But Totski himself,
though an egotist of the extremest type, realized that he
had no chance there; Aglaya was clearly not for such as he.
Perhaps the sisterly love and friendship of the three girls
had more or less exaggerated Aglaya’s chances of happiness.
In their opinion, the latter’s destiny was not merely to be
very happy; she was to live in a heaven on earth. Aglaya’s
husband was to be a compendium of all the virtues, and of
all success, not to speak of fabulous wealth. The two elder

The Idiot