Chapter 29 Part One - Twenty Six

"Come in, my lord, they are waiting for you," said the amiable fat porter of the Korchagins, opening the silent oak door with the English chain. "They are already seated, but I have told you to come in as soon as you arrive." The porter went to the landing and rang the bell that led upstairs. "Any visitors?" asked Nekhludoff, undressing. "Mr. Kolossov, and Master Mikhail, and the rest are family members," answered the porter. A handsome page in a tuxedo and white gloves looked down from the top of the stairs. "Please, sir," said he. "I've taken care of it, please come up."

Nekhludoff went upstairs, passed through the grand and spacious drawing-room he was familiar with, and entered the dining-room.In the dining room, the whole family was already sitting around the dining table, except for the mother, Duchess Shafeiya.She never stepped out of the room.At the table sat the old man Korchagin; on his left sat the doctor, and on his right sat the guest Kolosov, who had once been a provincial nobleman, was now a director of the bank, and was a liberal of Korchagin. Thinking friends; on the left and further on Missy's little sister's governess Miss Lander, and the little sister who is only four years old; opposite them, on the right is Missy's older brother, Korchagin's only son, sixth grade Petya, a middle school student, whose family stayed in the city because they were waiting for his exams; next to Petya was the college student working as a tutor; on the left was a Slavophile, a forty-year-old girl Katerina; opposite her It was Mikhail, or Misha, who was Missy's cousin.At the bottom of the table was Missy herself, with an unused cutlery beside her.

"Oh, that's all right. Sit down, we've just started eating fish," said old Korchagin, chewing carefully on his dentures, looking up at Nekhludoff with bloodshot eyes that couldn't see lids. "Skibang," he said, mouth full, eyeing the unused set, turning to the stout dining-room waiter. Although Nekhludoff knew the old man Korchagin very well and had dined with him many times, today Nekhludoff for some reason disliked his red face, which was set off by the napkin tucked into his waistcoat. The two greedy lips that eat with relish, his thick neck, and especially his general-like body with a belly full of food.Nekhludoff could not help thinking of the old man's cruelty.When he was the district governor, he often flogged and even hanged people for no reason. In fact, he was rich and powerful, so there was no need to ask for credit in this way.

"In a moment, sir," said Squibbon, taking a large spoon from the silverware cupboard, and nodding to the handsome side-whiskered valet.The servant straightened the unused tableware next to Missy.The set had been covered with a neatly folded starched napkin with the family coat of arms embroidered on it. Nekhludoff went around the table, shaking hands with everyone.Everyone stood up as he passed, except old Korchagin and the ladies.Although Nekhludoff had never spoken to most of them, he shook hands and said hello to most of them.He finds this kind of entertainment very disgusting and boring today.He apologized for being late and was about to take the seat between Missy and Katerina when old Korchagin told him to go first to the table with lobster, caviar, Go to the cold table of cheese and herring.Nekhludoff himself did not realize that he was so hungry that he couldn't put down the cheese and bread, so he ate it hungrily.

"Oh, how, right and wrong completely reversed?" Kolossov sarcastically borrowed the language of the reactionary newspapers attacking the jury system. "Acquit the guilty, and make the innocent guilty, don't you?" "Right and wrong are turned upside down ... right and wrong are turned upside down..." the old prince repeated with a smile, and he had infinite confidence in the erudition of his liberal comrade and friend. Nekhludoff, disregarding his impoliteness, ignored Kolosov, sat down by the steaming plate of soup that had just been brought, and went on eating.

"You let him eat first," Missy said with a smile, using the pronoun he to express their intimacy. At this moment Kolosov became emotional and began to speak aloud about the article against the jury which had offended him.His opinion was echoed by the prince's cousin Mikhail, who related another article in that newspaper. Missy was dressed as elegantly as usual, she was well dressed, but not too dainty. "You must be very tired and very hungry, aren't you?" she said, waiting for Nekhludoff to swallow his food. "No, all right. How about you? Have you been to the exhibition?" asked Nekhludoff.

"No, we changed the date. We played lawn tennis at the Salamatovs'. To be honest, Misty Crooks played beautifully." -------- ①The original text is English. Nekhludoff had come here to relax.Usually he was very happy in this house, not only because of the comfort of this luxury, but also because of the kind and flattering atmosphere that surrounded him.Today, strange to say, everything in the house, from the porter, the grand staircase, the flowers, the servants, the table decorations, to Missy himself, disgusted him.He felt that Missy was not cute today, she was putting on airs, and it was very unnatural.He hated Kolossov's conceited liberalism, old Korchagin's smug, lecherous bull figure, the Slavophile Katyrina's French-speaking, governesses and tutors. I especially hated Missy's use of the pronoun "he" when referring to him... Nekhludoff's attitude towards Missy was often vacillating: sometimes he seemed to squint his eyes or look at her in the moonlight, and saw her. With all the advantages in her body, he felt that she was delicate, beautiful, smart, and generous... Sometimes he seemed to look at her in the bright sunshine, so he couldn't help seeing her various shortcomings.Today was one of those days for him.Today he saw every wrinkle on her face, saw her disheveled hair, saw her ugly elbows, and especially saw the broad nails on her thumbs, which were exactly like her father's fingernails.

"That's not fun," Kolossov said of tennis. "Baseball was a lot more fun when we were kids." "No, you haven't tasted the fun. It's a wonderful ball," Missy disagreed with him, but Nekhludoff found it unnatural and pretentious in her words. An argument ensued, in which both Mikhail and Katerina took part.Only the governess, the tutor, and the children were silent, obviously uninterested. "Always bickering!" laughed old Korchagin, pulled the napkin off his vest, pushed the chair away with a clatter, and got up from the table.The servant took his chair.The rest of the people followed him and stood up one after another, walked to the small table with mouthwash cups and fragrant warm water, rinsed their mouths, and continued the conversation that no one was interested in.

"Do you think so?" said Missy, turning to Nekhludoff, asking him to agree with her that, in her opinion, the human character is never revealed more clearly than in sports.But she saw in his face that preoccupation and—she felt— An indignant look.She was frightened and wondered why. "To tell you the truth, I don't know. I've never considered the question," answered Nekhludoff. "Would you like to go and see mother?" Missy asked. "Well, well," he said, taking out a cigarette, but it was clear in his tone that he did not want to go. She said nothing, and looked at him in bewilderment.He felt a little embarrassed. "Yes, since we are here, we must not disappoint him," he thought to himself, and tried to be as gracious as possible, saying that he would be glad to go if the Duchess would receive her.

"Of course, of course, mother will be happy if you go. You can smoke over there too. Ivan Ivanitch was there too. " The hostess of the house, Duchess Shafeiya, has been bedridden for a long time.For eight years she lay and received visitors, all dressed in lace, ribbons, and velvet, surrounded by ornaments of gilt, ivory, bronze, and lacquer, and flowers of all kinds.She never went out, and only met her so-called "her own friends", who were actually people she thought were outstanding.Nekhludoff was one of these "friends" who were interviewed because she thought him a bright young man, because his mother was an old friend of the family, and because Missy would marry him. It's even more satisfying.

The room of Duchess Shafeiya is behind the large living room and the small living room.Missy walked in front of Nekhludoff, but as soon as she entered the drawing room she stopped suddenly, leaned her hands on the back of the gilded chair, and looked at him. Missy wanted to marry very much, and Nekhludoff was a good match.Besides, she liked him, she was in the habit of thinking: he belonged to her (not that she belonged to him, but he belonged to her).She also gets her way with the unintentional and persistent cunning that psychopaths often use.Now that she was talking to him, she wanted him to tell what was on his mind. "I see what's going on with you," said Missy. "What's wrong with you?" Nekhludoff frowned and blushed at the thought of seeing Katyusha in court. "Yes, something happened," he said, trying to tell the truth of the day, "a strange, unusually great event." "What's the matter? Can't you tell me?" "I can't just now. Please don't ask me. I haven't had time to think about it," said Nekhludoff, blushing still more. "Aren't you willing to tell me?" The muscles on her face twitched, and the chair in her hand moved. "No, I can't," he replied, feeling that in answering her he was answering himself, admitting that something very serious had happened. "Oh, let's go then." Missy shook her head, as if to get rid of unnecessary thoughts, and then hurried forward with unusual steps. Nekhludoff felt that she was biting her lips unnaturally, trying to hold back her tears.He made her sad, and he felt embarrassed and sad, but he knew that as long as his heart softened, he would destroy himself, that is to say, he was united with her and could never be separated again.And that's what he's most afraid of right now.And without a word he went with her to the princess's room.