Part 31 (2/2)

”Any storm,” added Tus.h.i.+n firmly.

”There are other storms in life,” said Tatiana Markovna with a sigh.

”Whatever they are, if they break on you, Vera Va.s.silievna, seek refuge in the forest over the Volga, where lives a bear who will serve you, as the fairytale tells.”

”I will remember,” returned Vera laughing. ”If a sorcerer wants to carry me off, as in the fairy-tale, I will take refuge in the wood.”

Raisky saw Tus.h.i.+n's glance of devotion and modest reserve, he heard his words, so quietly and modestly spoken, and thought the letter written on the blue paper could be from no one else. He looked at Vera to see if she were moved or would relapse into a stony silence, but she showed no sign. Vera appeared to him in a new light. In her manner and her words to Tus.h.i.+n he saw simplicity, trust, gentleness and affection such as she showed to no one else, not even to her aunt or to Marfinka.

”She is on her guard with her Grandmother,” he thought, ”and takes no heed of Marfinka. But when she looks at Tus.h.i.+n, speaks to him, or gives her hand it is plain to see that they are friends.”

The Forester, who had business to do in the town, stayed for three days with Tatiana Markovna, and for three days Raisky sought for the key to this new character and to his place in Vera's heart.

They called Ivan Ivanovich the ”Forester,” because he lived on his estate in the midst of the forest. He loved the forest, growing new timber on the one hand and on the other allowing it to be cut down and loaded up on the Volga for sale. The several thousand _dessiatins_ of surrounding forest were exceedingly well managed, and nothing was lacking; there was even a steam saw. He attended to everything himself, and in his spare time hunted and fished and amused himself with his bachelor neighbours. From time to time he sought a change of scene, and then arranged with his friends to drive in a three-horse carriage, drawn by fresh horses, forty versts away to the seat of a landed proprietor, where for three days the fun was fast enough. Then they returned, put up with Tus.h.i.+n, or waked the sleepy town. In these festivals all cla.s.s distinctions were lost.

After this dissipation he would again remain lost to the world for three months in his forest home, see after the wood cutting, and go hunting with two servants, and occasionally have to lie up with a wounded arm.

The life suited him. He read works on agriculture and forestry, took counsel with his German a.s.sistant, an experienced forester, who was nevertheless not allowed to be the master. All orders must come from Tus.h.i.+n himself, and were carried out by the help of two foremen and a gang of hired labourers. In his spare time he liked to read French novels, the only distraction that he permitted himself. There was nothing extraordinary in a retired life like this in the wide district in which he lived.

Raisky learnt that Tus.h.i.+n saw Vera at the pope's house, that he went there expressly when he heard that Vera was a visitor. Vera herself told him so. She and Natalie Ivanovna, too, visited Tus.h.i.+n's property, known as ”Smoke,” because far away from the hills could be seen the smoke rising from the chimneys of the house in the depth of the forest.

Tus.h.i.+n lived with his spinster sister, Anna Ivanovna, to whom Tatiana Markovna was much attached. Tatiana Markovna was delighted when she came to town. There was no one with whom she liked more to drink coffee, no one to whom she gave her confidence in the same degree; they shared the same liking for household management, the same deep-rooted self-esteem and the same respect for family tradition.

Of Tus.h.i.+n himself there was little more to say than was revealed on a first occasion; his character lay bare to the daylight, with no secret, no romantic side. He possessed more than plain good sense, for his understanding did not derive from the brain alone, but from the heart and will. Men of his type, especially when they care nothing for the superfluous things of life, but keep their eyes fixed undeviatingly on the necessary, do not make themselves noticed in the crowd and rarely reach the front of the world's stage.

Raisky noticed in the Forester's behaviour towards Vera a constant adoration expressed by his glance and his voice, and sometimes by his timidity; on her side an equally constant confidence, frankness and affection, nothing more. He did not surprise in her a single sign or gesture, a single word or glance that might have betrayed her. Tus.h.i.+n showed pure esteem and a consistent readiness to serve her as her bear, and no more. Surely he was not the man who wrote the letter on the blue paper.

After the Forester had taken his leave, the household fell back into its regular routine. Vera seemed untroubled and in possession of a quiet happiness, and showed herself kind and affectionate to her aunt and Marfinka. Yet there were days when unrest suddenly came upon her, when she went hastily to her room in the old house, or descended the precipice into the park, and displayed a gloomy resentment if Raisky or Marfinka ventured to disturb her solitude. After a short interval she resumed an even, sympathetic temper, helped in the household, looked over her aunt's accounts, and even paid visits to the ladies in the town.

She discussed literary questions with Raisky, who realised from the opinions she expressed that her reading was wide and enticed her into thorough-going discussions. They read together, though not regularly.

Sometimes a wild intoxication flared up in her, but it was a disconcerting merriment. One evening, when she suddenly left the room, Tatiana Markovna and Raisky exchanged a long questioning glance.

”What do you think of Vera?” she began. ”She seems to have recovered from her malady of the soul.”

”I think it is more serious than before.”

”What is the matter with you, Borushka? You can see how gay and friendly she has become.”

”Is she like the Vera you have known. I fear that this is not gladness, but rather agitation, even intoxication.”

”You are right. She is changed.”

”Don't you notice that she is ecstatic?”

”Ecstatic?” repeated Tatiana Markovna anxiously. ”Why do you say that, especially just at night? I shan't sleep. The ecstasy of a young girl spells disaster.”

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