Page:Chernyshevsky.whatistobedone.djvu/213

Rh you know well. Of course, I would have listened to him sooner than to you; consequently, I can't."

Against such an argument there is no disputing. Kirsánof shook his head and went away.

He came to see the sick man at ten o'clock, that evening, and sat by his bedside, together with Viéra Pavlovna, for half an hour, and then he said: "Now, Viéra Pavlovna, go and get some rest. We both ask you to. I am going to stay here to-night."

Viéra Pavlovna hesitated; she herself knew, or more than half knew, that it was not necessary to sit all night beside the sick man, and here she is compelling Kirsánof, who is a busy man, to waste his time. And what was it in reality? "It apparently is not necessary"; apparently, but who knows? No; it is impossible to leave the mílenki alone! Who knows what might happen? He may want a drink, he may want tea; he is so delicate, he will not wake up; consequently, it is impossible not to sit by his side. But it is not necessary for Kirsánof; she will not allow it. She said that she would not go away, for she was not very tired; that she was taking a great deal of rest in the daytime:—

"Under the present circumstances, I beg of you to leave us entirely to ourselves." Kirsánof took her hand and led her from the room, almost by main force.

"I am really ashamed of her, Aleksandr," said the sick man; "what a ridiculous part you are playing, to sit up all night with a man who is not sick enough to need it. But I am very grateful to you. I could not even persuade her to hire a nurse, when she was afraid to leave me alone; she would not trust me in anybody's hands."

"If I had not seen that it was impossible for her to be calm when you were in somebody else's care, then, of course, I should not have disturbed my comfort. But now, I hope that she will get some sleep. I am a doctor, and I am your friend."

In fact, Viéra Pavlovna, as soon as she touched her bed, fell sound asleep. Three sleepless nights in themselves would not have been so trying, and the worriment by itself would not have been so trying, but the worriment, together with the sleepless nights, without any rest in the daytime, was very dangerous; two or three days and nights more without sleep, and she would have been more seriously ill than her husband.