proved to be much smaller than was at first reported. The estate was considerably encumbered with debts; creditors turned up on all sides, and the prince, in spite of all advice and entreaty, insisted upon managing all matters of claim himself—which, of course, meant satisfying everybody all round, although half the claims were absolutely fraudulent. Mrs. Epanchin confirmed all this. She said the princess had written to much the same effect, and added that there was no curing a fool. But it was plain, from her expression of face, how strongly she approved of this particular young fool’s doings. In conclusion, the general observed that his wife took as great an interest in the prince as though he
were her own son; and that she had commenced to be espe-cially affectionate towards Aglaya was a self-evident fact.
All this caused the general to look grave and important. But, alas! this agreeable state of affairs very soon changed once more.
A couple of weeks went by, and suddenly the general and his wife were once more gloomy and silent, and the ice was as firm as ever. The fact was, the general, who had heard first, how Nastasia Philipovna had fled to Moscow and had been discovered there by Rogojin; that she had then disappeared once more, and been found again by Rogojin, and how after that she had almost promised to marry him, now received news that she had once more disappeared, almost on the very day fixed for her wedding, flying somewhere into the interior of Russia this time, and that Prince Muishkin had left all his affairs in the hands of Salaskin and disappeared also—but whether he was with Nastasia, or had only set off
in search of her, was unknown.
Lizabetha Prokofievna received confirmatory news from the princess—and alas, two months after the prince’s first departure from St. Petersburg, darkness and mystery once more enveloped his whereabouts and actions, and in the Epanchin family the ice of silence once more formed over the subject. Varia, however, informed the girls of what had happened, she having received the news from Ptitsin, who generally knew more than most people.
To make an end, we may say that there were many chang-es in the Epanchin household in the spring, so that it was not dificult to forget the prince, who sent no news of him-self.
The Epanchin family had at last made up their minds to spend the summer abroad, all except the general, who could not waste time in ‘travelling for enjoyment,’ of course. This arrangement was brought about by the persistence of the girls, who insisted that they were never allowed to go abroad because their parents were too anxious to marry them off. Perhaps their parents had at last come to the con-clusion that husbands might be found abroad, and that a summer’s travel might bear fruit. The marriage between Al-exandra and Totski had been broken off. Since the prince’s departure from St. Petersburg no more had been said about it; the subject had been dropped without ceremony, much to the joy of Mrs. General, who, announced that she was
‘ready to cross herself with both hands’ in gratitude for the escape. The general, however, regretted Totski for a long while. ‘Such a fortune!’ he sighed, ‘and such a good, easy-
going fellow!’
After a time it became known that Totski had married a French marquise, and was to be carried off by her to Paris, and then to Brittany.
‘Oh, well,’ thought the general, ‘he’s lost to us for good, now.’
So the Epanchins prepared to depart for the summer. But now another circumstance occurred, which changed
all the plans once more, and again the intended journey was put off, much to the delight of the general and his spouse.
A certain Prince S— arrived in St. Petersburg from Mos-cow, an eminent and honourable young man. He was one of those active persons who always find some good work with which to employ themselves. Without forcing him-self upon the public notice, modest and unobtrusive, this young prince was concerned with much that happened in the world in general.
He had served, at first, in one of the civil departments, had then attended to matters connected with the local government of provincial towns, and had of late been a corresponding member of several important scientific so-cieties. He was a man of excellent family and solid means, about thirty-five years of age.
Prince S— made the acquaintance of the general’s fam-ily, and Adelaida, the second girl, made a great impression upon him. Towards the spring he proposed to her, and she accepted him. The general and his wife were delighted. The journey abroad was put off, and the wedding was fixed for a day not very distant.
The trip abroad might have been enjoyed later on by Mrs. Epanchin and her two remaining daughters, but for another circumstance.
It so happened that Prince S— introduced a distant re-lation of his own into the Epanchin family—one Evgenie Pavlovitch, a young oficer of about twenty-eight years of age, whose conquests among the ladies in Moscow had been proverbial. This young gentleman no sooner set eyes on Aglaya than he became a frequent visitor at the house. He was witty, well-educated, and extremely wealthy, as the general very soon discovered. His past reputation was the only thing against him.
Nothing was said; there were not even any hints dropped; but still, it seemed better to the parents to say nothing more about going abroad this season, at all events. Aglaya herself perhaps was of a different opinion.
All this happened just before the second appearance of our hero upon the scene.
By this time, to judge from appearances, poor Prince Muishkin had been quite forgotten in St. Petersburg. If he had appeared suddenly among his acquaintances, he would have been received as one from the skies; but we must just glance at one more fact before we conclude this preface.
Colia Ivolgin, for some time after the prince’s departure, continued his old life. That is, he went to school, looked after his father, helped Varia in the house, and ran her errands, and went frequently to see his friend, Hippolyte.
The lodgers had disappeared very quickly—Ferdishen-ko soon after the events at Nastasia Philipovna’s, while the
prince went to Moscow, as we know. Gania and his mother went to live with Varia and Ptitsin immediately after the latter’s wedding, while the general was housed in a debtor’s prison by reason of certain IOU’s given to the captain’s wid-ow under the impression that they would never be formally used against him. This unkind action much surprised poor Ardalion Alexandrovitch, the victim, as he called himself, of an ‘unbounded trust in the nobility of the human heart.’
When he signed those notes of hand,he never dreamt that they would be a source of future trouble. The event showed that he was mistaken. ‘Trust in anyone after this! Have the least confidence in man or woman!’ he cried in bitter tones, as he sat with his new friends in prison, and recounted to them his favourite stories of the siege of Kars, and the resuscitated soldier. On the whole, he accommodat-ed himself very well to his new position. Ptitsin and Varia declared that he was in the right place, and Gania was of the same opinion. The only person who deplored his fate was poor Nina Alexandrovna, who wept bitter tears over him, to the great surprise of her household, and, though always in feeble health, made a point of going to see him as often as possible.
Since the general’s ‘mishap,’ as Colia called it, and the marriage of his sister, the boy had quietly possessed himself of far more freedom. His relations saw little of him, for he rarely slept at home. He made many new friends; and was moreover, a frequent visitor at the debtor’s prison, to which he invariably accompanied his mother. Varia, who used to be always correcting him, never spoke to him now on the
subject of his frequent absences, and the whole household was surprised to see Gania, in spite of his depression, on quite friendly terms with his brother. This was something new, for Gania had been wont to look upon Colia as a kind of errand-boy, treating him with contempt, threatening to ‘pull his ears,’ and in general driving him almost wild with irritation. It seemed now that Gania really needed his brother, and the latter, for his part, felt as if he could forgive Gania much since he had returned the hundred thou-sand roubles offered to him by Nastasia Philipovna. Three months after the departure of the prince, the Ivolgin fam-ily discovered that Colia had made acquaintance with the Epanchins, and was on very friendly terms with the daugh-ters. Varia heard of it first, though
