Page 835 - the-idiot

He could remember that Vera brought him some dinner,
and that he took it; but whether he slept after dinner, or no,
he could not recollect.
He only knew that he began to distinguish things clearly
from the moment when Aglaya suddenly appeared, and he
jumped up from the sofa and went to meet her. It was just a
quarter past seven then.
Aglaya was quite alone, and dressed, apparently hastily,
in a light mantle. Her face was pale, as it had been in the
morning, and her eyes were ablaze with bright but subdued
fire. He had never seen that expression in her eyes before.
She gazed attentively at him.
‘You are quite ready, I observe,’ she said, with absolute
composure, ‘dressed, and your hat in your hand. I see
somebody has thought fit to warn you, and I know who.
Hippolyte?’
‘Yes, he told me,’ said the prince, feeling only half alive.
‘Come then. You know, I suppose, that you must escort
me there? You are well enough to go out, aren’t you?’
‘I am well enough; but is it really possible?—‘
He broke off abruptly, and could not add another word.
This was his one attempt to stop the mad child, and, after he
had made it, he followed her as though he had no will of his
own. Confused as his thoughts were, he was, nevertheless,
capable of realizing the fact that if he did not go with her,
she would go alone, and so he must go with her at all haz-
ards. He guessed the strength of her determination; it was
beyond him to check it.
They walked silently, and said scarcely a word all the way.

The Idiot