"Do be careful, my dear.You've been unfortunate once already with young men; mind you don't make a second mistake.""Are you referring to Nejdanov? I don't think I've been altogether mistaken with regard to him.He has been a good tutor to Kolia.And then you know "non bis in idem"! Excuse my being pedantic....It means, things don't repeat themselves!
"Don't you think so? Well, I think that everything in the world repeats itself...especially what's in the nature of things...
and particularly among young people."
"Que voulez-vous dire?" asked Sipiagin, flinging the pamphlet on the table with a graceful gesture of the hand.
"Ouvrez les yeux, et vous verrez!" Madame Sipiagina replied.They always spoke to one another in French.
"H'm!" Sipiagin grunted."Are you referring to that student?""Yes, I'm referring to him."
"H'm! Has he got anything on here, eh?" (He passed his hand over his forehead.)"Open your eyes!"
"Is it Mariana, eh?" (The second" eh" was pronounced more through the nose than the first one.)"Open your eyes, I tell you!"
Sipiagin frowned.
"We must talk about this later on.I should just like to say now that this Solomin may feel rather uncomfortable...You see, he is not used to society.We must be nice to him so as to make him feel at his ease.Of course, I don't mean this for you, you're such a dear, that I think you could fascinate anyone if you chose.J'en sais quelque chose, madame! I mean this for the others, if only for--"He pointed to a fashionable grey hat lying on a shelf.It belonged to Mr.Kollomietzev, who had been in Arjanov since the morning.
"Il est tres cassant you know.He has far too great a contempt for the people for my liking.And he has been so frightfully quarrelsome and irritable of late.Is his little affair there not getting on well?"Sipiagin nodded his head in some indefinite direction, but his wife understood him.
"Open your eyes, I tell you again!"
Sipiagin stood up.
"Eh?" (This "eh" was pronounced in a quite different tone, much lower.) "Is that how the land lies? They had better take care Idon't open them too wide!"
"That is your own affair, my dear.But as for that new young man of yours, you may be quite easy about him.I will see that everything is all right.Every precaution will be taken."It turned out that no precautions were necessary, however.
Solomin was not in the least alarmed or embarrassed.
As soon as he was announced Sipiagin jumped up, exclaiming in a voice loud enough to be heard in the hall, "Show him in, of course show him in!" He then went up to the drawing-room door and stood waiting.No sooner had Solomin crossed the threshold, almost knocking against Sipiagin, when the latter extended both his hands, saying with an amiable smile and a friendly shake of the head, "How very nice of you to come....I can hardly thank you enough." Then he led him up to Valentina Mihailovna.
"Allow me to introduce you to my wife," he said, gently pressing his hand against Solomin's back, pushing him towards her as it were."My dear, here is our best local engineer and manufacturer, Vassily...Fedosaitch Solomin."Madame Sipiagina stood up, raised her wonderful eyelashes, smiled sweetly as to an acquaintance, extended her hand with the palm upwards, her elbow pressed against her waist, her head bent a little to the right, in the attitude of a suppliant.Solomin let the husband and wife go through their little comedy, shook hands with them both, and sat down at the first invitation to do so.
Sipiagin began to fuss about him, asking if he would like anything, but Solomin assured him that he wanted nothing and was not in the least bit tired from the journey.
"Then may we go to the factory?" Sipiagin asked, a little shame-faced, not daring to believe in so much condescension on the part of his guest.
"As soon as you like, I'm quite ready," Solomin replied."How awfully good of you! Shall we drive or would you like to walk?""Is it a long way?"
"About half a mile."
"It's hardly worthwhile bringing out the carriage.""Very well.Ivan! my hat and stick! Make haste! And you'll see about some dinner, little one, won't you? My hat, quick!"Sipiagin was far more excited than his visitor, and calling out once more, " Why don't they give me my hat," he, the stately dignitary, rushed out like a frolicsome schoolboy.While her husband was talking to Solomin, Valentina Mihailovna looked at him stealthily, trying to make out this new "young man." He was sitting in an armchair, quite at his ease, his bare hands laid on his knee (he had not put on the gloves after all), calmly, although not without a certain amount of curiosity, looking around at the furniture and pictures."I don't understand," she thought, "he's a plebeian--quite a plebeian--and yet behaves so naturally!" Solomin did indeed carry himself naturally, not with any view to effect, as much as to say "Look what a splendid fellow I am!" but as a man whose thoughts and feelings are simple, direct, and strong at the same time.Madame Sipiagina wanted to say something to him, but was surprised to find that she did not quite know how to begin.
"Heavens!" she thought."This mechanic is making me quite nervous!""My husband must be very grateful to you," she remarked at last.
"It was so good of you to sacrifice a few hours of your valuable time--""My time is not so very valuable, madame," he observed."Besides, I've not come here for long.""Voila ou l'ours a montre sa patte," she thought in French, but at this moment her husband appeared in the doorway, his hat on his head and a walking stick in his hand.
"Are you ready, Vassily Fedosaitch?" he asked in a free and easy tone, half turned towards him.
Solomin rose, bowed to Valentina Mihailovna, and walked out behind Sipiagin.
