第342章

第342章anatolehadlatelymovedintodolohov’squarters.theplanfortheabductionofnatasharostovhadbeenallplannedoutandpreparedseveraldaysbeforebydolohov,andonthedaywhensonyahadlistenedatnatasha’sdoorandresolvedtoprotecther,thatplanwastobeputintoexecution.natashahadpromisedtocomeouttokuraginatthebackentranceatteno’clockintheevening.kuraginwastogetherintoasledgethatwastobeallreadywiththreehorsesinit,andtodriveheroffsixtyverstsfrommoscowtothevillageofkamenka,whereanunfrockedpriestwasinreadinesstoperformamarriageceremonyoverthem.atkamenkaarelayofhorseswastobeinreadiness,whichwastotakethemasfarasthewarsawroad,andthencetheyweretohastenabroadbymeansofpost-horses.

anatolehadapassportandanorderforpost-horsesandtenthousandroublesborrowedfromhissister,andtenthousandmoreraisedbytheassistanceofdolohov.

thetwowitnessesofthemockmarriageceremony—hvostikov,onceapettyofficial,amanofwhomdolohovmadeuseatcards,andmakarin,aretiredhussar,aweakandgood-naturedman,whosedevotiontokuraginwasunbounded—weresittingovertheirteaintheouterroom.

indolohov’sbigstudy,decoratedfromthewallstotheceilingwithpersianrugs,bearskins,andweapons,dolohovwassittinginatravellingtunicandhighbootsinfrontofanopenbureauonwhichlayaccountsandbundlesofbanknotes.anatole,inanunbuttoneduniform,waswalkingtoandfrofromtheroomwherethewitnessesweresittingthroughthestudyintoaroombehind,wherehisfrenchvaletwithsomeotherservantswaspackingupthelastofhisbelongings.dolohovwasreckoningupmoneyandnotingdownsums.

“well,”hesaid,“youwillhavetogivehvostikovtwothousand.”

“well,giveithimthen,”saidanatole.

“makarkanow”（theirnameformakarin）,“hewouldgothroughfireandwaterforyouwithnothingtogainbyit.well,herethen,ouraccountsarefinished,”saiddolohov,showinghimthepaper.“that’sallright？”

“yes,ofcourse,it’sallright,”saidanatole,evidentlynotattendingtodolohov,andlookingstraightbeforehimwithasmilethatneverlefthisface.

dolohovshutthebureauwithaslam,andturnedtoanatolewithaironicalsmile.

“butisay,youdropitall;there’sstilltime！”hesaid.

“idiot！”saidanatole.“leaveofftalkingrubbish.ifonlyyouknew.…devilonlyknowswhatthismeanstome！”

“you’dreallybetterdropit,”saiddolohov.“i’mspeakinginearnest.it’snojokingmatterthisschemeofyours.”

“why,teasingagain,again？gotothedevil！eh.…”saidanatole,frowning.“really,i’minnohumourforyourstupidjokes.”andhewentoutoftheroom.

dolohovsmiledacontemptuousandsupercilioussmilewhenanatolehadgone.

“waitabit,”hecalledafteranatole.“i’mnotjoking.i’minearnest.comehere,comehere！”

anatolecamebackintotheroom,andtryingtoconcentratehisattention,lookedatdolohov,obviouslyobeyinghimunwillingly.

“listentome.i’mspeakingtoyouforthelasttime.whatshouldiwanttojokewithyoufor？haveieverthwartedyou？whowasitarrangeditallforyou？whofoundyourpriest？whotookyourpassport？whogotyouyourmoney？ithasallbeenmydoing.”

“well,andthankyouforit.doyousupposei’mnotgrateful？”anatolesighedandembraceddolohov.

“ihavehelpedyou;butstillioughttotellyouthetruth：it’sadangerousbusiness,andifyoucometothinkofit,it’sstupid.come,youcarryheroff,wellandgood.doyousupposethey’llletitrest？itwillcomeoutthatyouaremarried.why,theywillhaveyouuponacriminalcharge,youknow…”

“oh,nonsense,nonsense！”saidanatole,frowningagain.“why,didn’tiexplaintoyou？eh？”andanatole,withthatpeculiarpartiality（commoninpersonsofdullbrain）,foranyconclusiontowhichtheyhavebeenledbytheirownmentalprocesses,repeatedtheargumenthehadrepeatedahundredtimesovertodolohovalready.“why,iexplainedit,isettledthat.ifthismarriageisinvalid,”hesaid,crookinghisfinger,“thenitfollowsi’mnotanswerableforit.well,andifitisvalid,itwon’tmatter.noonewilleverknowofitabroad,so,yousee,it’sallright,isn’tit？anddon’ttalktome;don’ttalktome;don’ttalktome！”

“really,youdropit.you’llgetyourselfintoamess…”

“yougotothedevil！”saidanatole,andclutchingathishairhewentoffintothenextroom,butatoncereturninghesatwithhislegsuponanarm-chairclosetodolohovandfacinghim.“devilonlyknowswhat’sthematterwithme！eh？seehowitbeats.”hetookdolohov’shandandputitonhisheart.“ah,whatafoot,mydearboy,whataglance！agoddess！”hesaidinfrench.“eh？”

dolohov,withacoldsmileandagleaminhishandsomeimpudenteyes,lookedathim,obviouslydisposedtogetalittlemoreamusementoutofhim.

“well,yourmoneywillbegone,whatthen？”

“whatthen？eh？”repeatedanatole,withgenuineperplexityatthethoughtofthefuture.“whatthen？idon’tknowwhatthen…come,whytalknonsense？”helookedathiswatch.“it’stime！”

anatolewentintothebackroom.

“well,willyousoonhavedone？you’redawdlingthere,”heshoutedattheservants.

dolohovputawaythemoney;andcallingaservanttogivehimordersaboutgettingsomethingtoeatanddrinkbeforethejourney,hewentintotheroomwherehvostikovandmakarinweresitting.