Page 898 - the-idiot

dows were open, as before; Rogojin’s were all shut, and in the
darkness the white blinds showed whiter than ever. Rogojin
and the prince each approached the house on his respective
side of the road; Rogojin, who was on the near side, beck-
oned the prince across. He went over to the doorway.
‘Even the porter does not know that I have come home
now. I told him, and told them at my mother’s too, that I
was off to Pavlofsk,’ said Rogojin, with a cunning and al-
most satisfied smile. ‘We’ll go in quietly and nobody will
hear us.’
He had the key in his hand. Mounting the staircase he
turned and signalled to the prince to go more softly; he
opened the door very quietly, let the prince in, followed him,
locked the door behind him, and put the key in his pocket.
‘Come along,’ he whispered.
He had spoken in a whisper all the way. In spite of his
apparent outward composure, he was evidently in a state of
great mental agitation. Arrived in a large salon, next to the
study, he went to the window and cautiously beckoned the
prince up to him.
‘When you rang the bell this morning I thought it must
be you. I went to the door on tip-toe and heard you talking
to the servant opposite. I had told her before that if any-
one came and rang— especially you, and I gave her your
name—she was not to tell about me. Then I thought, what
if he goes and stands opposite and looks up, or waits about
to watch the house? So I came to this very window, looked
out, and there you were staring straight at me. That’s how
it came about.’