Page 673 - the-idiot

At last the prince came out of the dark, gloomy park,
in which he had wandered about for hours just as yester-
day. The bright night seemed to him to be lighter than ever.
‘It must be quite early,’ he thought. (He had forgotten his
watch.) There was a sound of distant music somewhere.
‘Ah,’ he thought, ‘the Vauxhall! They won’t be there today,
of course!’ At this moment he noticed that he was close to
their house; he had felt that he must gravitate to this spot
eventually, and, with a beating heart, he mounted the ve-
randah steps.
No one met him; the verandah was empty, and nearly
pitch dark. He opened the door into the room, but it, too,
was dark and empty. He stood in the middle of the room in
perplexity. Suddenly the door opened, and in came Alexan-
dra, candle in hand. Seeing the prince she stopped before
him in surprise, looking at him questioningly.
It was clear that she had been merely passing through
the room from door to door, and had not had the remotest
notion that she would meet anyone.
‘How did you come here?’ she asked, at last.
‘I-I—came in—‘
‘Mamma is not very well, nor is Aglaya. Adelaida has
gone to bed, and I am just going. We were alone the whole
evening. Father and Prince S. have gone to town.’
‘I have come to you—now—to—‘
‘Do you know what time it is?’
‘N—no!’
‘Half-past twelve. We are always in bed by one.’
‘I-I thought it was half-past nine!’

The Idiot