Page:Complete Works of Count Tolstoy - 01.djvu/112

80 "I will tell you as a true friend," grandmother interrupted him, with a sad countenance, "it seems to me that these are only excuses, so as to give him a chance to live here alone, to frequent clubs and dinners, and to do God knows what; but she does not suspect anything. You know what an angelic soul she is; she has complete confidence in him. He had assured her that the children ought to be taken to Moscow, and that she ought to stay all alone, with the stupid governess, in the country, — and she believed him. If he were to tell her that the children ought to be whipped, as Princess Várvara Ilínichna whips them, she, I think, would at once consent," said grandmother, moving about in her chair, with an expression of deep disgust. "Yes, my friend," continued grandmother, after a moment's silence, and raising one of her two handkerchiefs, to wipe off a tear which had made its appearance, "I often think that he can neither value nor understand her, and that in spite of all her goodness, her love for him, and her desire to hide her grief, — I know that well, — she cannot be happy with him. Remember what I say, he will —"

Grandmother covered her face with her handkerchief.

"Eh, ma bonne amie," said the prince, chidingly, "I see you have not become wiser in the least, — you eternally worry and weep for an imaginary sorrow. Really, are you not ashamed? I have known him for a long time, and I have known him as an attentive, good, and excellent husband, and, above all, as a very noble man, un parfait honnêt homme."

Having involuntarily heard the conversation, which I ought not to have heard, I slipped out of the room on tiptoe, and in great agitation.