第23章

第23章thecountesswassotiredfromseeingvisitorsthatshegaveordersthatshewouldseenooneelse，andthedoorkeeperwastoldtobesureandinvitetodinnereveryonewhoshouldcallwithcongratulations.thecountesswaslongingforatête-à-têtetalkwiththefriendofherchildhood，annamihalovna，whomshehadnotseenproperlysinceshehadarrivedfrompetersburg.annamihalovna，withhertear-wornandamiableface，movedcloseruptothecountess’seasy-chair.

“withyouiwillbeperfectlyopen，”saidannamihalovna.“wehaven’tmanyoldfriendsleft.that’showitisivalueyourfriendshipso.”

annamihalovnalookedatveraandstopped.thecountesspressedherfriend’shand.

“vera，”saidthecountesstohereldestdaughter，unmistakablynotherfavourite，“howisityouhavenonotionaboutanything？don’tyoufeelthatyou’renotwantedhere？gotoyoursisteror…”

thehandsomeyoungcountesssmiledscornfully，apparentlynotintheleastmortified.

“ifyouhadtoldme，mamma，iwouldhavegoneawaylongago，”shesaid，andwentofftowardsherownroom.butpassingthroughthedivan-room，shenoticedtwocouplessittingsymmetricallyinthetwowindows.shestoppedandsmiledcontemptuouslyatthem.sonyawassittingclosebesidenikolay，whowascopyingoutsomeversesforher，thefirsthehadeverwritten.borisandnatashaweresittingintheotherwindow，andweresilentwhenveracamein.sonyaandnatashalookedatverawithguilty，happyfaces.

itwasanamusingandtouchingsighttoseetheselittlegirlsinlove，butthesightofthemdidnotapparentlyarouseanyagreeablefeelinginvera.“howoftenhaveiaskedyou，”shesaid，“nottotakemythings？youhavearoomofyourown.”shetooktheinkstandawayfromnikolay.

“oneminute，oneminute，”hesaid，dippinghispenin.

“youalwaysmanagetodothingsjustatthewrongmoment，”saidvera.“firstyouburstintothedrawing-roomsothateveryonewasashamedofyou.”althoughorjustbecausewhatshesaidwasperfectlytrue，nooneanswered；allthefoursimplylookedatoneanother.shelingeredintheroomwiththeinkstandinherhand.“andwhatsortofsecretscanyouhaveatyourage，natashaandboris，andyoutwo！—it’sallsimplysillynonsense！”

“well，whathasittodowithyou，vera？”natashasaidindefence，speakingverygently.shewasevidentlymoregood-humouredandaffectionatethanusualthatdaywitheveryone.

“it’sverysilly，”saidvera；“iamashamedofyou.whatsortofsecret…”

“everyonehassecrets.wedon’tinterferewithyouandberg，”saidnatasha，gettingwarmer.

“ishouldthinkyoudidn’tinterfere，”saidvera，“becausetherecouldbenoharminanyconductofmine.butishalltellmammahowyoubehavewithboris.”

“natalyailyinishnabehavesverywelltome，”saidboris.“ihavenothingtocomplainof，”hesaid.

“leaveoff，boris，you’resuchadiplomatist”（theworlddiplomatistwasmuchinuseamongthechildreninthespecialsensetheyattachedtotheword）.“it’stiresome，really，”saidnatasha，inamortifiedandshakingvoice；“whydoesshesetuponme？”

“you’llneverunderstandit，”shesaid，addressingvera，“becauseyou’venevercaredforanyone；you’venoheart；you’resimplymadamedegenlis”（thisnickname，consideredmostoffensive，hadbeengiventoverabynikolay），“andyourgreatestdelightisingettingotherpeopleintotrouble.youcanflirtwithberg，asmuchasyoulike，”shesaidquickly.

“well，i’mnotlikelytorunafterayoungmanbeforevisitors.…”

“well，shehasgainedherobject！”nikolayputin；“shehassaidsomethingnastytoeveryone，andupseteverybody.let’sgointothenursery.”

allfourrose，likeaflockofscaredbirds，andwentoutoftheroom.

“you’vesaidnastythingstome，andisaidnothingtoanyone，”saidvera.

“madamedegenlis！madamedegenlis！”criedlaughingvoicesthroughthedoor.

thehandsomegirlwhoproducedsuchanirritatingandunpleasanteffectoneveryonesmiled；and，obviouslyunaffectedbywhathadbeensaidtoher，shewentuptothelooking-glassandputherscarfandherhairtidy.lookingatherhandsomeface，sheseemedtobecomecolderandmorecomposedthanever.

inthedrawing-roomtheconversationwasstillgoingon.