Anna Iurievna resembled her father, as much as a young, graceful2, pretty woman can resemble an elderly man with strongly-marked features and athletic3 frame, such as was General Nazimoff. But in spite of the delicacy4 of her form, and the gentleness of her eyes, her glance sometimes flashed fire in a manner very like the flashing eyes of her father, and in her strong will, firm character, and inflexible5 adherence6 to what she believed to be necessary and right, Anna was exactly like her father.
For nearly ten years his daughter had obediently borne his anger; from the day of her marriage to the man she loved, whom evil-minded people had succeeded in calumniating7 in the general's mind. Though writing incessantly8 to him, begging him to pardon her, to understand that he had made a mistake, that her husband was a man of honor, and that she would be fully9 and perfectly10 happy, but for the burden of her father's wrath11, and of the separation from him, she had never until the last few weeks received a reply from him. But quite recently something mysterious had happened. Not only had her father written to her that he wished to see her and her children in St. Petersburg, whither he was just setting out, but a few days later he had written again, a long, tender letter, in which he had asked her forgiveness. Without giving any explanations, he said that he had received indubitable proofs of the innocence12 and chivalrous13 honor of her husband; that he felt himself deeply guilty toward him, and was miserable14 on account of the injustice15 he had committed. In the following letters, praying his daughter to hasten her coming, because he was dangerously ill, and the doctors thought could not last long, he filled her with astonishment16 by expressing his intention to make a new will, and his determination to separate his youngest daughter "from such a mother," and by his prayers to her and her husband not to refuse to take upon themselves little Olga's education.
"What had happened? How could that light-minded woman have so deeply wounded my father?" Anna asked in bewilderment.
"If she was merely light-minded!" her husband answered, shrugging his shoulders. "But she is so malicious17, so crafty18, and so daring that anything may be expected from her."
"But in that case there would be an open scandal. We would know something for certain. Nowadays they even relate such stories in the newspapers, and my father is so well known, so noteworthy!"
"That is just why they don't write about him!" answered Borisoff, her husband, smiling. He himself flatly refused to go to St. Petersburg. With horror he remembered the first year of his marriage, before he had succeeded in obtaining a transfer to another city, and was compelled to meet the woman he detested19; compelled also to meet his father-in-law, a wise and honorable old man, who had fallen so completely into the toils20 of this crafty woman. Anna Iurievna knew that her husband despised her stepmother; that he detested her as the cause of all the grief which they had had to endure through her, and most of all, on account of the injustice she was guilty of toward her brother, the general's son.
For six years Borisoff had lived with young Peter Nazimoff, as his tutor and teacher, and loved him sincerely. The boy had already reached the highest class at school, when his sister, two years older than he, finished her schooling21, and returned to her father's house, about the time of the general's second marriage. What the young tutor tried not to notice and to endure, for love of his pupil, in the first year of the general's second marriage, became intolerable when the general's daughter returned home, and to all the burden of his difficult position was added the knowledge of their mutual22 love. He proceeded frankly23, and the whole matter was soon settled. But the young man had never uttered a syllable24 as to the cause of Madame Nazimoff's hatred25 for him. For the sake of his father-in-law's peace of mind, he sincerely hoped that he would never know. Anna was convinced that the whole cause of her stepmother's hostility26 was her prejudice against what was in her opinion a mesalliance. In part she was right, but the chief reason of this hostility remained forever a secret to her. Unfortunately, it was not equally a secret to her father.
Of late years he had gradually been losing faith in his second wife's character. It went so far that the general felt much more at ease when she was away. Before the last illness of Iuri Pavlovitch, which, to tell the truth, was almost his first, Olga Vseslavovna had gone abroad with her daughter, intending to travel for a year; but she had hardly been gone two months when the general unexpectedly determined27 to go to St. Petersburg to seek a divorce, to see his elder daughter, and change his will. Perhaps he would never have determined on such decisive measures had not something wholly unexpected taken place.
Borisoff was quite mistaken in thinking that he had so carefully destroyed all the letters which the general's young wife had written to him, before his marriage to Anna, that no material evidence of Olga Vseslavovna's early design of treachery remained. Even before she married the general, she had had a confidential28 servant, who carried out many commissions for the beautiful young woman, whose fame had gone abroad through the three districts along the Volga, the arena29 of her early triumphs. Later, the young lady found a new favorite in foreign lands—the same Rita who was still with her. Martha, the Russian confidential servant, heartily30 detested the German girl, and such strife31 arose between them that not only the general's wife, but even the general himself, was deprived of peace and tranquillity32. Martha was no fool; Olga Vseslavovna had to be careful with her; she did take care, but she herself did not know to what an extent she was in the woman's power. Foreseeing a black day of ingratitude33, Martha, with wonderful forethought, had put on one side one or two letters from each series of her mistress' secret correspondence, which always passed through her hands. Perhaps she would not have made such a bad use of them but for her mistress' last, intolerable insult. Prizing in her servants, next to swift obedience34, a knowledge of languages, her mistress did not make use of her when traveling abroad; but hitherto she had taken both servants with her. But on her last journey she was so heartily tired of Martha, and her perpetual tears and quarrels, that she determined to get on without her, the more so that her daughter's governess was also traveling with her. Her company was growing too numerous.
There was no limit to Martha's wrath when she learned that she was going to be left behind. Her effrontery35 was so great that she advised her mistress "for her own sake" not to put such an affront36 upon her, since she would not submit to it without seeking revenge. But her mistress never dreamed of what Martha was planning, and what a risk she ran.
Hardly had the general's wife departed when Martha asked the general to let her leave, saying she would find work elsewhere. The general saw no way of keeping her; and he did not even wish to do so, thinking her only a quarrelsome, ill-tempered woman. The confidential servant left the house, and even the city. And immediately her revenge and torture of the general began, cutting straight at the root of his happiness, his health, even his life. He began to receive, almost daily, letters from different parts of Russia, for Martha had plenty of friends and chums. With measureless cruelty Martha began by sending the less important documents, still signed with her mistress' maiden37 name; then two or three letters from the series of the most recent times, and finally there came a whole packet of those sent by the general's wife to the tutor, in the first year of her marriage with the general, before Borisoff had met Anna.
The crafty Martha, knowing perfectly the whole state of affairs to which these letters referred, often copied out their contents, and kept the letters themselves concealed38, saying to herself, "God knows what may turn up, some day!
"If they are no use, I can burn them. But they may be useful. It is always a good thing to keep our masters in our power," argued the sagacious woman, and she was not mistaken in her calculations, although these letters served not for her profit, but only for a sanguinary revenge.
These notes and letters, which finally opened his eyes to the true character of his wife, and his own crying injustice to his elder children, were now lying in the general's dispatch box, in a neatly39 tied packet, directed in the doctor's handwriting to "Her Excellency Olga Vseslavovna Nazimoff."
As soon as she received her father's first letter Anna began to get ready to go to St. Petersburg, but unfortunately she was kept back by the sickness, first of one child, then of another. But for his last telegrams, she would not have started even now, because she did not realize the dangerous character of his illness. But now, finding that she had come too late, the unhappy woman could not forgive herself.
Everyone was grieved to see her bitter sorrow, after the funeral service for her father. Princess Ryadski burst into tears, as she looked at her; and all the acquaintances and relations of the general were far more disturbed by her despair than by the general's death. Olga Vseslavovna was secretly scandalized at such lack of self-control, but outwardly she seemed greatly touched and troubled by the situation of her poor stepdaughter. But she did not venture to express her sympathy too openly in the presence of others, remembering the words of "the crazy creature" when she had come to herself after her fainting fit, and her stepmother had hurried up to embrace her.
"Leave me!" Anna had cried, when she saw her. "I cannot bear to see you! You killed my father!"
It was well that there were only servants in the anteroom. But the general's wife did not wish to risk another such scene, now that so many people were present. And besides she was extremely disturbed; the friends who had come to the funeral service had brought flowers; and the half-crazy princess, with the aid of two other ladies, had taken a fancy to decorate the coffin40, and especially the head, with them. It is impossible to describe what Olga Vseslavovna suffered, as she watched all those hands moving about among the folds of the muslin, the frills, the covering, almost under the satin cushion even; a little more and she would have fainted in earnest.
She had always boasted that she had strong nerves, and this was quite true; nevertheless, during these days, their strength was evidently giving way, as she could not get to sleep for a long time that night, and heaven only knows what fancies passed through her mind. It was almost morning before Olga Vseslavovna got to sleep, and even then it was not for long.
She dreamed that she was descending41 endless stairs and dark corridors, with a heavy, shapeless burden on her shoulders. A bright, constantly-changing flame flickered42 before her; now red, now yellow, now green, it flitted before her from side to side. She knew that if she could reach it, the burden would fall from her. But the light seemed to be taunting43 her, now appearing, now disappearing, and suddenly going out altogether. And she found herself in the darkness, in a damp cellar, seemingly empty, but filled with something's invisible presence. What was it? She did not know. But this pervading44 something frightened her terribly, smothered45 her, pressing on her from all sides, depriving her of air. She was choking! Terror seized her at the thought that it . . . was Death! Must she die? Was it possible? But that brightly shining light had just promised her life, gayety, brilliance46! She must hurry to overtake it. And she tried to run. But her feet would not obey her; she could not move.
"Heaven! Heaven!" she cried, "but what is it? Whence has such a disaster come? What is holding me? Let me go, or I shall be smothered in this stench, under this intolerable burden!"
Suddenly Iuri Pavlovitch walked past her. She immediately recognized him, and joyfully47 caught at his cloak. "Iuri! Forgive me! Help me!" she cried.
Her husband stopped, looked sadly at her, and answered: "I would gladly help you, but you yourself hinder me. Let me go; I must fulfill48 your directions."
At that moment she awoke. She was bathed in a cold perspiration49, and clutched wildly at the coverlet with both hands. There was no one near her, but she clearly felt someone's presence, and was convinced that she had really seen her husband a moment before. In her ears resounded50 his words: "I must fulfill your directions!" Directions? What directions?
She sprang up, and began to feel about over the carpet with her bare feet, looking for her slippers51. A terrible thought had come into her mind. She felt that she must settle it at once. She must take the will, take it away from there! burn it! destroy it! She feverishly52 drew on her dressing53 gown, and threw a shawl over her shoulders.
"Rita! Get up quick! Quick! Come!"
The frightened maid rose, still half asleep, and rubbed her eyes, understanding nothing. Her mistress' ice-cold hands clutched her, and dragged her somewhere.
"Ach lieber Gott . . . Gott in Himmel!" she muttered. "What has happened? What do you want?"
"Hush55! Come quick!" And Olga Vseslavovna, with a candle in her trembling hand, went forward, dragging the trembling Rita with her. She opened the door of her bedroom, and went out. All the doors were open en suite56, and straight in front of her, in the center of the fourth, shone the coffin of her husband, covered with cloth of gold and lit up by the tall tapers57 standing54 round the bier.
"What does it mean?" whispered the general's wife. "Why have they opened all the doors?"
"I do not know . . . they were all closed last night," murmured the maid in reply, her teeth chattering58 with fear. She longed to ask her mistress whither they were going, and what for? She wanted to stop, and not enter the funeral chamber59; but she was afraid to speak.
They passed quickly through the rooms; at the door of the last the general's wife set her candle down on a chair, and halted for a moment. The loud snoring of the reader startled them both.
"It is the deacon!" whispered the general's wife reassuringly60. Rita had hardly strength to nod assent61. All the same, the healthy snoring of a living man comforted her. Without moving from where she stood, the maid tremblingly drew her woolen62 shawl closer about her, trying to see the sofa on which the deacon lay.
Knitting her brows, and biting her lips till they were sore, Olga Vseslavovna went forward determinedly63 to the bier. She thrust both hands under the flowers on the pillow. The frill was untouched. The satin of the cushion was there, but where was . . . ? Her heart, that had been beating like a hammer, suddenly stopped and stood still. There was not a trace of the will!
"Perhaps I have forgotten. Perhaps it was on the other side," thought Olga Vseslavovna, and went round to the left side of the coffin.
No! It was not there, either! Where was it? Who could have taken it? Suddenly her heart failed her utterly64, and she clutched at the edge of the coffin to keep herself from falling. It seemed to her that under the stiff, pallid65, rigidly67 clasped hands of the dead general something gleamed white through the transparent68 muslin of the covering, something like a piece of paper.
"Nonsense! Self-suggestion! It is impossible! Hallucination!" The thought flashed through her tortured brain. She forced herself to be calm, and to look again.
Yes! She had not been mistaken. The white corner of a folded paper appeared clearly against the general's dark uniform. At the same moment a cold draught69 coming from somewhere set the tapers flickering70. Shadows danced around the room, over the bier, across the dead man's face; and in the quick change of light and shadow it seemed to her that the rigid66 features became more living, that a mournful smile formed itself on the closed lips, that the tightly- shut eyelids71 quivered. A wild cry rang through the whole room. With a desperate shriek72: "His eyes! He is looking at me!" the general's wife staggered forward and fell fainting to the floor, beside her husband's bier.
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1
blessing
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| n.祈神赐福；祷告；祝福，祝愿 | |
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graceful
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| adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的 | |
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athletic
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| adj.擅长运动的，强健的；活跃的，体格健壮的 | |
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delicacy
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| n.精致，细微，微妙，精良；美味，佳肴 | |
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inflexible
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| adj.不可改变的，不受影响的，不屈服的 | |
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adherence
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| n.信奉，依附，坚持，固着 | |
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7
calumniating
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| v.诽谤，中伤( calumniate的现在分词 ) | |
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8
incessantly
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| ad.不停地 | |
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fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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wrath
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| n.愤怒，愤慨，暴怒 | |
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innocence
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| n.无罪；天真；无害 | |
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chivalrous
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| adj.武士精神的；对女人彬彬有礼的 | |
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miserable
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| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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injustice
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| n.非正义，不公正，不公平，侵犯（别人的）权利 | |
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astonishment
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| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
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17
malicious
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| adj.有恶意的，心怀恶意的 | |
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crafty
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| adj.狡猾的，诡诈的 | |
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19
detested
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| v.憎恶，嫌恶，痛恨( detest的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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20
toils
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| 网 | |
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schooling
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| n.教育；正规学校教育 | |
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mutual
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| adj.相互的，彼此的；共同的，共有的 | |
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frankly
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| adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说 | |
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syllable
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| n.音节；vt.分音节 | |
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25
hatred
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| n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨 | |
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hostility
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| n.敌对，敌意；抵制［pl.］交战，战争 | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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confidential
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| adj.秘（机）密的，表示信任的，担任机密工作的 | |
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arena
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| n.竞技场，运动场所；竞争场所，舞台 | |
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heartily
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| adv.衷心地，诚恳地，十分，很 | |
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strife
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| n.争吵，冲突，倾轧，竞争 | |
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32
tranquillity
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| n. 平静, 安静 | |
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ingratitude
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| n.忘恩负义 | |
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obedience
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| n.服从，顺从 | |
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effrontery
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| n.厚颜无耻 | |
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affront
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| n./v.侮辱，触怒 | |
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maiden
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| n.少女，处女；adj.未婚的，纯洁的，无经验的 | |
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concealed
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| a.隐藏的，隐蔽的 | |
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neatly
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| adv.整洁地，干净地，灵巧地，熟练地 | |
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40
coffin
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| n.棺材，灵柩 | |
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41
descending
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| n. 下行 adj. 下降的 | |
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42
flickered
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| （通常指灯光）闪烁，摇曳( flicker的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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43
taunting
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| 嘲讽( taunt的现在分词 )； 嘲弄； 辱骂； 奚落 | |
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44
pervading
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| v.遍及，弥漫( pervade的现在分词 ) | |
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45
smothered
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| （使）窒息， （使）透不过气( smother的过去式和过去分词 )； 覆盖； 忍住； 抑制 | |
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46
brilliance
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| n.光辉，辉煌，壮丽，（卓越的）才华，才智 | |
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47
joyfully
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| adv. 喜悦地, 高兴地 | |
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48
fulfill
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| vt.履行，实现，完成；满足，使满意 | |
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49
perspiration
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| n.汗水；出汗 | |
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50
resounded
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| v.（指声音等）回荡于某处( resound的过去式和过去分词 )；产生回响；（指某处）回荡着声音 | |
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51
slippers
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| n. 拖鞋 | |
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52
feverishly
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| adv. 兴奋地 | |
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53
dressing
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| n.(食物)调料；包扎伤口的用品，敷料 | |
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54
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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55
hush
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| int.嘘，别出声；n.沉默，静寂；v.使安静 | |
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56
suite
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| n.一套(家具)；套房；随从人员 | |
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57
tapers
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| （长形物体的）逐渐变窄( taper的名词复数 )； 微弱的光； 极细的蜡烛 | |
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58
chattering
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| n. （机器振动发出的）咔嗒声，(鸟等)鸣，啁啾 adj. 喋喋不休的，啾啾声的 动词chatter的现在分词形式 | |
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59
chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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60
reassuringly
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| ad.安心，可靠 | |
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61
assent
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| v.批准，认可；n.批准，认可 | |
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62
woolen
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| adj.羊毛(制)的；毛纺的 | |
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63
determinedly
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| adv.决意地；坚决地，坚定地 | |
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64
utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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pallid
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| adj.苍白的，呆板的 | |
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66
rigid
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| adj.严格的，死板的；刚硬的，僵硬的 | |
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67
rigidly
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| adv.刻板地，僵化地 | |
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68
transparent
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| adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的 | |
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69
draught
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| n.拉，牵引，拖；一网（饮，吸，阵)；顿服药量，通风；v.起草，设计 | |
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70
flickering
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| adj.闪烁的，摇曳的，一闪一闪的 | |
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71
eyelids
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| n.眼睑( eyelid的名词复数 )；眼睛也不眨一下；不露声色；面不改色 | |
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shriek
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| v./n.尖叫，叫喊 | |
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