Page:Pushkin - Russian Romance (King, 1875).djvu/254

 had made up his mind to return home, but he wished to see his poor Dounia once again before leaving. With this end in view he returned to Minsky two days later; but the soldier-servant roughly told him that his master received no one, and pushing him out of the hall, slammed the door in his face. The station-master waited, and still waited, and then went his way.

He was walking along the Letéynaya that same evening, having listened to a Te Deum at the Church of Vseh Skarbiastchech. A smart droshky suddenly dashed past him, and he recognized Minsky. The droshky stopped at the entrance of a three-storied house, and the Hussar ran up the steps. A happy thought flashed across the station-master. He turned back, and approaching the coachman: "Whose horse is this, my friend?" asked he; "not Minsky's?" "Yes, Minsky's," answered the coachman: "what dost thou want?" "Why, this; thy master ordered me to take a note to his Dounia, and I have forgotten where his Dounia lives." "It is here she lives, on the second floor. Thou art too late with thy note, my friend: he is with her himself now."—"No matter," said the station-master, with a violent beating of the heart; "thanks for directing me; I shall know how to manage my business." And with these words he walked up the flight of stairs.

The doors were closed; he rang. For several seconds he stood in uneasy expectation. The key rustled; the doors were opened. "Does Avdotia Samsónovna live