Page 625 - the-idiot

appear yet more deep and still.
He dreamed many dreams as he sat there, and all were
full of disquiet, so that he shuddered every moment.
At length a woman seemed to approach him. He knew
her, oh! he knew her only too well. He could always name
her and recognize her anywhere; but, strange, she seemed
to have quite a different face from hers, as he had known
it, and he felt a tormenting desire to be able to say she was
not the same woman. In the face before him there was such
dreadful remorse and horror that he thought she must be
a criminal, that she must have just committed some awful
crime.
Tears were trembling on her white cheek. She beckoned
him, but placed her finger on her lip as though to warn him
that he must follow her very quietly. His heart froze within
him. He wouldn’t, he COULDN’T confess her to be a crimi-
nal, and yet he felt that something dreadful would happen
the next moment, something which would blast his whole
life.
She seemed to wish to show him something, not far off,
in the park.
He rose from his seat in order to follow her, when a
bright, clear peal of laughter rang out by his side. He felt
somebody’s hand suddenly in his own, seized it, pressed it
hard, and awoke. Before him stood Aglaya, laughing aloud.

The Idiot