Page 91 - the-idiot

on the deduction. I suppose you quite agree with them,
prince?’
‘Tell us about the execution,’ put in Adelaida.
‘I would much rather not, just now,’ said the prince, a
little disturbed and frowning slightly;
‘ You don’t seem to want to tell us,’ said Aglaya, with a
mocking air.
‘ No,—the thing is, I was telling all about the execution a
little while ago, and—‘
‘Whom did you tell about it?’
‘The man-servant, while I was waiting to see the gener-
al.’
‘Our man-servant?’ exclaimed several voices at once.
‘Yes, the one who waits in the entrance hall, a greyish,
redfaced man—‘
‘The prince is clearly a democrat,’ remarked Aglaya.
‘Well, if you could tell Aleksey about it, surely you can
tell us too.’
‘I do so want to hear about it,’ repeated Adelaida.
‘Just now, I confess,’ began the prince, with more ani-
mation, ‘when you asked me for a subject for a picture, I
confess I had serious thoughts of giving you one. I thought
of asking you to draw the face of a criminal, one minute be-
fore the fall of the guillotine, while the wretched man is still
standing on the scaffold, preparatory to placing his neck on
the block.’
‘What, his face? only his face?’ asked Adelaida. ‘That
would be a strange subject indeed. And what sort of a pic-
ture would that make?’

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