The Precipice Part 31

"My carriage is solid, and has a cover. Vera Va.s.silievna sat as dry as if she were in a room."

"But in this terrible storm."

"Only old women are afraid of a storm."

"I'm much obliged."

"I beg your pardon," said Tushin in embarra.s.sment. "It slipped from my tongue. I meant ordinary women."

"G.o.d will forgive you," laughed Tatiana Markovna. "It won't indeed hurt you, but Vera! Were you not afraid?"

"One does not think of fear with Ivan Ivanovich."

"If Ivan Ivanovich went bear-hunting, would you go with him?"

"Yes, Grandmother. Take me with you sometimes, Ivan Ivanovich."

"With pleasure, Vera Va.s.silievna, in winter. You have only to command."

"That is just like her, not to mind what her Grandmother thinks."

"I was joking, Grandmother."

"I know you would be equal to it. Had you no scruples about hindering Ivan Ivanovich; this distance...."

"It is my fault. As soon as I heard from Natalie Ivanovna that Vera Va.s.silievna wanted to come home, I asked for the pleasure," he said looking at Vera with a mixed air of modesty and respect.

"A nice pleasure in this weather."

"It was lighter while we were driving, and Vera Va.s.silievna was not afraid."

"Is Anna Ivanovna well?"

"Thank you. She sends her kindest regards, and has sent you some preserves, also some peaches out of the orangery, and mushrooms. They are in the char-a-banc."

"It is very good of her. We have no peaches. I have put aside for her some of the tea that Borushka brought with him."

"Many thanks."

"How could you let your horses climb the hill in such weather? Were they terrified by the storm?"

"My horses obey me like dogs. Should I have driven Vera Va.s.silievna if there were any danger?"

"You are a good friend," interrupted Vera. "I have absolute trust both in you, and in your horses."

At this moment Raisky returned, having changed his clothes. He had noticed the glance which Vera gave Tushin, and had heard her last remark.

"Thank you, Vera Va.s.silievna," answered Tushin. "Don't forget what you have just said. If you ever need anything, if...."

"If there is another such raging storm," said Tatiana Markovna.

"Any storm," added Tushin 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 Tushin'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 Tushin 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 Tushin, 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 Tushin, 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 Tushin 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 Tushin 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 Tushin'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.

Tushin 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 Tushin 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. Tushin 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."