Chapter 31 Chapter 03

She stood up and started talking standing up, unaware of it because of her excitement.The Duke also stood up from his seat as he listened.The whole scene became very solemn and solemn. "Remember for yourself what you said on Tuesday," began Natasha. "You said: I need money, smooth roads, high society—remember?" "Remember." "Well, for this, for this money. For all these achievements that are slipping from your hands, you came to the humble house on Tuesday in vain, came to propose marriage on a whim, and you think that a joke like this will do the trick." help you catch

Live in what is slipping from your hands. " "Natasha," I cried, "what are you talking about!" "Just kidding! Wishful thinking!" The Duke repeated again and again, as if his self-esteem had been greatly damaged. Alyosha sat watching with a heartbroken heart, hardly understanding anything. "Yes, yes, don't interrupt me, I swear I'll say what's on my mind," Natasha continued angrily, "you must remember: Alyosha once disobeyed you. For half a year, you have been working hard on him Husband, let him leave me.He didn't give in to you.Suddenly, it has reached the critical moment, and there is no time to wait.If you miss this opportunity, your fiancée, money, and above all money, a dowry of three million rubles, will slip through your fingers.

There is only one solution left: let Alyosha fall in love with the girl you have chosen as his betrothed; you are sure that if he falls in love, he may alienate me..." "Natasha, Natasha!" Alyosha cried sadly. "What are you saying!" "So you did it," she went on, without stopping at Alyosha's cry, "but now the same thing happened again, everything could have come true, but I made it impossible! only one I can give you hope: you are a man of sophistication and prudence, and perhaps you noticed then that Alyosha sometimes seemed tired of old attachments.You can't fail to notice that he's starting to forget about me and being with me

Feel bored together, he will not see me for five days in a row.Maybe he would have completely disliked me and abandoned me, but this Tuesday, suddenly, Alyosha took a decisive step and completely screwed you over.what do you do! ..." "Excuse me," cried the prince, "but on the contrary, this matter..." "Let me go on," interrupted Natasha stubbornly, "that night you asked yourself: 'What now?' -- and you decided: let him marry me, but not seriously. , but just say it, give him comfort .You can put off the wedding for as long as you like; then he will have a new love; you notice it.So all your plans are based on this other new love. "

"Fantasy love story," the Duke whispered, as if talking to himself, "I'm alone in my boudoir, I'm dreaming, I read too many romance novels!" "Yes, all your plans are based on this other new love," Natasha repeated what she just said, but she didn't hear or pay attention to what the Duke said just now, her whole body was in a frenzy of excitement in the middle, and more and more aggressive "If you want to find another love, now is the rare opportunity! You know, this new love began to grow before he knew all the virtues of this girl! That night, when he spoke freely to this girl, telling her , said he couldn't love her,

Because his vocation and other loves forbade him to do so, and in that minute the girl suddenly showed so much nobility before him, so much sympathy for him and her story, so much so. More tolerance from the heart, in the past , although he also believed that she had a beautiful heart, but it was beyond his expectation that her heart would be so beautiful!At that time, he came to me and talked about her; she made a deep impression on him.Yes, the next day, he couldn't help feeling It was necessary to see her perfect person again, if only to thank her.Besides, why can't I go see her?To know her, that person in the past is no longer in pain, her fate has been decided, he will grow old with her forever,

And now it's only for a short while... If Natasha is jealous even for a short while, is she really unreasonable?And so he unknowingly took away from this Natasha not a moment, but a day, two days. , three days.At the same time, during this time, the girl appeared to him in a new and totally unexpected way; child here The point is that her character is so similar to his, and they swear to each other to maintain friendship, to be as close as brother and sister, and to be inseparable for the rest of their lives. 'During these five or six hours of talking', his whole heart opened up to new feelings, his whole heart

Overwhelmed... You thought the day would come when he would compare his old feelings with his new ones: in the old, everything was familiar and the same; in the old , everyone is so serious, to him So demanding; in the old relationship, people always scolded him, were jealous of him, and all they saw were tears... Even if they fight with him, it's not treating each other as equals, but like coaxing children... Mainly : Everything is old-fashioned, everything is already familiar of……" Tears and a painful convulsion in her throat temporarily took her breath away, but Natasha restrained herself for a moment.

"What will happen in the future? Time will decide in the future; you know, the wedding to Natasha has not been stipulated to take place immediately; there is time, and everything will change. . . your warnings, hints, You can even slander this irritating Natasha; you can slander her, and as for... how it will all be resolved—I don’t know, but you will surely win !Alyosha!please don't blame me i friend!Don't say I don't understand your love, I don't cherish it enough.You still love me now, I know that, and I also know that you may not understand my complaint at this moment.I know I'm doing very, very badly now by telling everything

.But what can I do, because I know all of this and I love you more and more...in love...fascinatingly! " She stretched out her hands, covered her face, and sat down on the armchair, crying like a child.With a cry of surprise, Alyosha rushed towards her.He saw her cry, always in tears. Her weeping seems to have helped the Duke a lot: Natasha's infatuation in this long explanation, her sharp attack on him (even if it is polite to express displeasure), all this can now be clearly seen. due to envy The crazy impulse generated by jealousy can be attributed to love being fooled, and it can even be attributed to a kind of pathology.It's even supposed to show sympathy...

"Don't be sad, take it easy, Natalya Nikolaevna," the prince reassured, "it's all because of whimsical thoughts, fantasies, and solitary confinement... You have done him a disservice." The inspection is extremely annoying...but, you know To him, it was nothing more than a misconduct.You have just mentioned the main fact, that what happened on Tuesday should have proved to you that he is infatuated with you, but you have just the opposite, thinking that . . . " "Oh, don't tell me, at least don't torture me now!" interrupted Natasha, weeping sadly. "My heart has told me everything, and it has already told me! Do you think I I don't understand, his old love is gone U'... Here, in this room, I'm alone... When he left me and forgot me... I felt it all... I thought about it all... What can I do!I don't blame you, Alyosha... what do you mean by lying to me?Don't you think I haven't tried to lie to myself? ... Oh, how many times, how many times!Haven't I listened carefully to every sound of his speech?Haven't I learned to root Judging everything by the expression of his face, by the look in his eyes? ... everything is gone, everything is buried ... Oh, woe is my life! " Alyosha knelt before her and wept. "Yes, yes, it's all my fault! It's all because of me!..." He repeated bitterly. "No, don't blame yourself, Alyosha... here, there are other people... our deadly enemies. It's them... they're doing it!" "However, I'm very sorry," the Duke said impatiently, "on what grounds do you force these... crimes on me? This is just your guess, without any basis..." "Justification!" cried Natasha, rising quickly from her armchair. "Here is your justification, you sly man! You have come here to file a note because you have nothing else to offer and cannot do otherwise." You must reassure your son and numb him so that he will not be condemned by his conscience, that he may throw himself into Katya's arms more freely and with more peace of mind; if you don't do this, he will always think about me and refuse to listen to you, and you have already Impatient to wait.what, is this Isn't it right? " "I admit," replied the prince with a wry smile, "if I wanted to deceive you, I would really consider it; you have a little... Such accusations are insulting to others ..." "Take evidence! You want him to get rid of me. Isn't what you're doing evidence? A man who teaches his son to ignore and play with his obligations in order to enter the upper class and for money--this kind of man will only degenerate !What did the author say about the stairs, about the poor housing?Didn't you cancel the allowance you've been giving him in the past?The purpose is to use poverty and hunger to force us to break up!It is because of you that there is this room and this staircase, but now you But he blamed him, full of double-faced!That night, you had a sudden burst of enthusiasm, a whole bunch of fresh ideas that didn't belong to you - where did it come from?Why do you suddenly need me?These four days, I I've been walking here and there; I've thought it all over, I've weighed it all, I've weighed every word you say, every look on your face, and I'm convinced that it all It's all fake, it's a joke, it's acting , It’s really deceiving, despicable and shameless... You know, I know what you are, I have known it a long time ago!Whenever Alyosha comes back from you, I can guess from his face what you have said to him and reminded him Something; I have studied all the influences you have exerted on him!No, you can't fool me!Maybe you have something else on your mind, maybe I haven't said the main thing yet; but that doesn't matter!You lied to me - this is the Lord need!This is exactly what I want to explain to you in person! ..." "That's all? That's all the evidence? But think about it, you crazy woman: this uncharacteristic behavior of mine (as you call my courtship) has in turn tied my My hands and feet make it hard for me to move. It was very reckless of me to do so. " "What, after all, is it that binds you hand and foot? 2 In your opinion, what is it to cheat me? What's the big deal about bullying a girl! You know, she is just a poor girl who eloped with someone, Even her father doesn't want her anymore , she was helpless, she ruined her own reputation, and her morals fell!Be polite to her, does she deserve it?As long as the joke is good for me, even a little bit! " "What position have you put yourself in, Natalya Nikolaevna, think! You insist that I insulted you, but, you know, the insult is serious and humiliating, This makes me do not understand, how can nothing happen? It is natural to assume such a thing, let alone hold to it.Please forgive me, unless you are used to talking nonsense, you will spit blood so effortlessly.I have the right to blame you, because you set my son up against me: Even if he doesn't stand up against me for you now, his heart is against me..." "No, father, no," cried Alyosha, "I did not speak out against you because I believed it impossible for you to insult her, and I cannot believe that it is possible to insult a girl like that!" "Did you hear that?" cried the prince. "Natasha, it's all my fault, I can't blame him. It's a sin to say that, it's terrible!" "You hear me, Vanya? He's blaming me!" cried Natasha. "Enough!" said the prince, "this sad scene must be over. This blind and strong impulse of jealousy has made me admire you and see your character. I've learned my lesson. We're too impatient. Yes, it's too hasty.You insulted me without even noticing; to you, that's nothing.Too impatient...too impatient...Of course, I mean what I say, but...as a father, I also want my son to be happy... ..." "What you said doesn't count," cried Natasha, ecstasy, "you are very glad to have seized such an opportunity! But don't worry, it was only two days ago, here I am alone, so I will decide made up his mind to dissolve the marriage he promised I would like to reiterate this decision now in front of everyone.I decline this marriage! " "Maybe you want to use this to reawaken all his old insecurities, sense of responsibility, 'guilty for his duty' (that's what you just said) so you can keep him tied to you got it. you know , it follows from your theory; that is why I say so; but enough; time will tell.I will wait for you to calm down before expressing my feelings to you.I hope that our relationship will not be completely broken. .I also hope that you can learn to judge me better.I was going to tell you today what I did with your parents and you'll see...but enough!Ivan Petrovich! ’ He walked up to me and added, ‘Being able to follow your feet Getting acquainted in one step, I feel that now is more precious than ever, not to mention that I have been interested in this for a long time.Hope you can understand me.I will pay a visit in the near future; can you give me your approval? " I bowed.I felt in my heart that now I could no longer avoid asking him to make his acquaintance.He shook my hand, bowed silently to Natasha, and left the room with an air of wounded pride.