第24章

第24章“ah，chère，”saidthecountess，“inmylife，too，everythingisnotrose-coloured.doyousupposeidon’tseethat，inthewaywearegoingon，ourfortunecan’tlastlong？andit’salltheclubandhisgood-nature.whenwe’reinthecountrywehavenorestfromit，—it’snothingbuttheatricals，huntingparties，andgodknowswhat.butwewon’ttalkofme.come，tellmehowyoumanageditall.ioftenwonderatyou，annette，thewayyougoracingoffalone，atyourage，tomoscow，andtopetersburg，toalltheministers，andallthegreatpeople，andknowhowtogetroundthemalltoo.iadmireyou，really！well，howwasitarranged？why，icouldneverdoit.”

“ah，mydear！”answeredprincessannamihalovna，“godgrantthatyouneverknowwhatitistobeleftawidow，withnoonetosupportyou，andasonwhomyoulovetodistraction.onelearnshowtodoanything，”shesaidwithsomepride.“mylawsuittrainedmetoit.ifiwanttoseeoneofthesegreatpeople，iwriteanote：‘princessso-and-sowishestoseeso-and-so，’andigomyselfinahiredcabtwoorthreetimes—four，ifneedbe—tilligetwhatiwant.idon’tmindwhattheythinkofme.”

“well，tellme，then，whomdidyouinterviewforborinka？”askedthecountess.“here’syourboyanofficerintheguards，whilemynikolinka’sgoingasanensign.there’snoonetomanagethingsforhim.whosehelpdidyouask？”

“princevassily’s.hewassokind.agreedtodoeverythingimmediately；putthecasebeforetheemperor，”saidprincessannamihalovnaenthusiastically，entirelyforgettingallthehumiliationshehadbeenthroughtoattainherobject.

“andhowishe？beginningtogetold，princevassily？”inquiredthecountess.“ihaveneverseenhimsinceourtheatricalsattherumyantsovs’，andidaresayhehasforgottenme.hepaidmeattentions，”thecountessrecalledwithasmile.

“he’sjustthesame，”answeredannamihalovna，“soaffable，brimmingover.greatnesshasnotturnedhishead.‘iamsorryicandosolittleforyou，princess，’hesaidtome；‘i’matyourcommand.’yes，he’sasplendidman，andverygoodtohisrelatives.butyouknow，natalie，myloveformyboy.idon’tknowwhatiwouldnotdotomakehimhappy.andmymeansaresoscanty，”pursuedannamihalovna，droppinghervoicemournfully，“thatnowiaminamostawfulposition.mywretchedlawsuitiseatingupallihave，andmakingnoprogress.ihavenot，canyouconceiveit，literally，notsixpenceintheworld，andidon’tknowhowtogetboris’sequipment.”shetookoutherhandkerchiefandshedtears.“imusthavefivehundredroubles，andihaveonlyatwenty-fiveroublenote.i’minsuchaposition.…myonehopenowisinprincekirillvladimirovitchbezuhov.ifhewillnotcometothehelpofhisgodson—youknowheisboris’sgodfather—andallowhimsomethingforhismaintenance，allmyeffortswillhavebeeninvain；ishallhavenothingtogethisequipmentwith.”

thecountessdeliberatedintearfulsilence.

“ioftenthink—perhapsit’sasinfulthought，”saidtheprincess—“butioftenthink：hereisprincekirillvladimirovitchbezuhovlivingallalone…thatimmensefortune…andwhatishelivingfor？lifeisaburdentohim，whileborisisonlyjustbeginninglife.”

“hewillbesuretoleavesomethingtoboris，”saidthecountess.

“godknows，chèreamie！thesewealthygrandpeoplearesuchegoists.butstilli’mgoingtoseehimatoncewithboris，andiwilltellhimplainlythestateofthecase.peoplemaythinkwhattheychooseofme，ireallydon’tcare，whenmyson’sfatedependsonit.”theprincessgotup.“it’snowtwoo’clock，andyoudineatfour.ishallhavetimetodrivethereandback.”

andwiththeairofapetersburglady，usedtobusiness，andknowinghowtomakeuseofeverymoment，annamihalovnasentforherson，andwithhimwentoutintothehall.

“good-bye，mydear，”shesaidtothecountess，whoaccompaniedhertothedoor.“wishmegood-luck，”sheaddedinawhisperunheardbyherson.

“you’regoingtoprincekirillvladimirovich’s，machère？”saidthecount，comingoutofthedining-roomintothehall.“ifhe’sbetter，invitepierretodinewithus.hehasbeenhere；usedtodancewiththechildren.besureyouinvitehim，machère.nowdocomeandlookhowtarashassurpassedhimselfto-day.hesayscountorlovneverhadsuchadinneraswe’regoingtohaveto-day.”