Page 875 - the-idiot

himself with terror.
These warnings about Rogojin were expressed on the day
before the wedding. That evening the prince saw Nastasia
Philipovna for the last time before they were to meet at the
altar; but Nastasia was not in a position to give him any
comfort or consolation. On the contrary, she only added to
his mental perturbation as the evening went on. Up to this
time she had invariably done her best to cheer him—she
was afraid of his looking melancholy; she would try singing
to him, and telling him every sort of funny story or rem-
iniscence that she could recall. The prince nearly always
pretended to be amused, whether he were so actually or no;
but often enough he laughed sincerely, delighted by the bril-
liancy of her wit when she was carried away by her narrative,
as she very often was. Nastasia would be wild with joy to see
the impression she had made, and to hear his laugh of real
amusement; and she would remain the whole evening in a
state of pride and happiness. But this evening her melan-
choly and thoughtfulness grew with every hour.
The prince had told Evgenie Pavlovitch with perfect sin-
cerity that he loved Nastasia Philipovna with all his soul. In
his love for her there was the sort of tenderness one feels
for a sick, unhappy child which cannot be left alone. He
never spoke of his feelings for Nastasia to anyone, not even
to herself. When they were together they never discussed
their ‘feelings,’ and there was nothing in their cheerful, ani-
mated conversation which an outsider could not have heard.
Daria Alexeyevna, with whom Nastasia was staying, told af-
terwards how she had been filled with joy and delight only

The Idiot