Chapter 30 Part One - Twenty Seven

Duchess Shafeiya has just finished her well-cooked and nutritious lunch.She always ate alone so that no one could see her doing such unpoetly mundane things.Next to her couch is a small table with coffee on it.She is smoking.The Duchess of Shafeiya is slender, with black hair, long teeth, and big black eyes.She always tries to look young. There was much gossip about her relationship with the doctor.Nekhludoff hadn't thought of it before, but today he not only remembered it, but saw the doctor with the greasy beard and two halves sitting next to her in the soft chair, and he felt something indescribable. nausea.

Kolossov was sitting on the low sofa next to Princess Shafia, stirring the coffee on the small table.There was also a glass of rum on the table. Missy accompanied Nekhludoff to his mother's room, but she did not stay behind. "When mother is tired, I will drive you away, and you will come to me," she said to Kolosov and Nekhludoff, as if she and Nekhludoff had never had any trouble at all.She smiled happily and walked out quietly stepping on the thick carpet. "Oh, hello, my friend, please sit down and tell us about it," said the Duchess Shafiya, with a fake smile that could be convincingly real, revealing a mouth full of fine and beautiful teeth just like her real teeth. Long dentures. "I heard that you came out of the court very sad. I understand that it is very painful for a good-hearted person to do such a thing," she said in French.

"Yes, that is quite true," said Nekhludoff, "you will often feel that you have no . . . you have no right to judge . . . " "That's so true!" She seemed to be deeply moved by the truth of his statement, which was always the way she cunningly flattered her interlocutors. "So, how is your picture? I'm very interested in it," she added. "If it wasn't for my illness, I would have gone to the mansion to appreciate it." "I've left it altogether," replied Nekhludoff dryly, and it seemed to him today that her false flattery was as obvious as her oldness.He couldn't force himself to be kind.

"That's impossible! To tell you the truth, Repin himself told me that he is very talented." she said to Kolosov. "She's not ashamed to lie like that," thought Nekhludoff, frowning. When Princess Shaphia was convinced that Nekhludoff was in a bad mood and could not possibly attract him to a pleasant and interesting conversation, she turned to Kolossov to ask his opinion on a new play, as if Kolossov The husband's opinion will remove all doubts, and his every word will be immortalized forever.Kolossov criticized the play and took the opportunity to develop his artistic conception.The Duchess of Shafeiya was greatly surprised by his brilliant insights, and tried to defend the script author a few words, but immediately gave up and could only offer a compromise view at best.Nekhludoff watched and listened, but what he saw and heard was completely different from what was before him.

Nekhludoff sometimes listened to Princess Shaphia and Kolosov, and he found that: first, neither Princess Shaphia nor Kolosov knew anything about drama. They have no interest in each other, and they are indifferent to each other. The reason why they talk is nothing more than to satisfy the physiological requirements of moving their tongue and throat muscles after meals; Drunk, but not like a farmer who seldom drank, but like a man who is addicted to alcohol.He didn't sway, he didn't talk nonsense, but he was in a strange mood, complacent, and very excited; thirdly, Nekhludoff saw that Princess Shaphia always looked at her with a restless look when she was talking. Look at the window, because there is a slant of sunlight entering the window, which may clearly illuminate her old state.

"That's true," she said of Kolossov's remark, and rang the electric bell beside the bed. At this moment the doctor stood up and walked out without saying a word, as if he were a member of the family.Duchess Shafeiya watched him go out while talking. "Philip, please let down the curtain," said the handsome valet, who entered at the sound of the bell, and the Duchess pointed to the curtain with her eyes. "No, say what you will, there is something mysterious about it, without which it would not be poetry," she said, squinting one black eye at the footman who was putting up the curtain.

"Mysticism without poetry is superstition, and poetry without mysticism is prose," she smiled melancholy, not taking her eyes off the servant who was straightening the curtain. "Philip, you shouldn't have put that curtain, but enlarge the curtain on the window," said Princess Saphia bitterly, evidently pitying herself for having gone so far to say those words.Then he lifted his hand full of rings, and brought the smoky, fragrant cigarette to his mouth to calm himself down. Philip, a handsome, broad-chested and muscular man, bowed slightly as if apologetic, moved his two strong legs with well-developed calves gently on the carpet, and walked obediently to the other side without saying a word. Looking at the Duchess carefully at the window, she began to draw the curtains so that there was not a ray of sunlight on her body.But he was still wrong, and the distressed Duchess Saphia had to put aside her talk of mysticism to correct Philip, who was dull-witted and mercilessly vexed her.A spark lit up in Philip's eye.

"'God knows what's going on with you!'—that's what he was probably saying," Nekhludoff thought to himself, watching the scene with cold eyes.However, Philip, this handsome man and strong man, immediately hid his impatience, calmed down, and followed the words of the exhausted, weak and pretentious Duchess Shafia. "Darwin's theory has some truth, of course," said Kolossov, stretching his arms and legs lazily on the low sofa, while looking sleepily at Princess Shaphia, "but he's gone a little too far. That's right. " "Then do you believe in heredity?" Princess Shafiya asked Nekhludoff, distressed by his silence.

"Inheritance?" asked Nekhludoff. "No, I don't believe it," he said, his mind somehow filled with strange images.He imagined Hercules and the handsome Philip naked, and next to him was a naked Kolosov with a stomach like a watermelon, a bald head, and two muscleless arms like two dead vines.He also vaguely imagined what the shoulders of the Duchess Shafia wrapped in satin and velvet actually looked like, but this kind of imagination was too terrible, and he quickly dispelled it. Duchess Shafeiya looked him up and down with her eyes. "Missy is waiting for you," she said. "Go to her, she's going to play Schumann's new work for you...it's very interesting."

"She doesn't want to play at all. She's lying on purpose," thought Nekhludoff, getting up, and shaking Princess Shaphia's thin, ring-covered hand. Katerina met him in the drawing room and immediately began talking to him. "I can see that jury service wears you out," she said in French, as usual. "Oh, I'm sorry, I'm in a bad mood today, but I have no right to make anyone else miserable," said Nekhludoff. "Why are you in a bad mood?" "I don't want to say, excuse me," he said, looking for his hat. "You must remember that you once said that a man must always tell the truth, and that you have told us some terrible things. Why don't you say it today? Do you remember, Missy?" Katerina Said to Missy who approached.

"Because it was only a joke," Nekhludoff answered solemnly. "It's okay to joke around. But in real life we're too bad, I mean, I'm too bad, at least I can't be honest." "You don't have to change your words, it's better to say what's wrong with us," said Katerina.She caught Nekhludoff's speech and seemed not to notice the seriousness of his face. "There's nothing worse than admitting you're in a bad mood," says Missy. "I never admit it, so I'm always in a good mood. Come on, come to me. Let's try to dispel your bad mood." It seemed to Nekhludoff that he was like a horse being fondled and asked to put on a bridle and harness to a carriage.Today he is particularly unhappy pulling the cart.He apologized, said he had to go home, and said goodbye to everyone.Missy held his hand longer than usual. "You have to remember that what's important to you is also important to your friends," she says. "Are you coming tomorrow?" "Probably not," said Nekhludoff, feeling ashamed, but he didn't know whether he was ashamed of himself or of her.He blushed and hurried away. "What's the matter? I'm very interested," said Katerina, as soon as Nekhludoff had gone. "I must find out. It must be a matter of decency: Our Mikhail is angry. " "I'm afraid it's a disgraceful affair," Missy wanted to say, but she didn't speak. She stared blankly ahead, her gloomy look was completely different from when she looked at him just now.However, even to Katerina she did not say this sour quip, but only said: "We all have happy days and bad days." "Is even this man going to deceive me?" Missy thought to herself. "It's too shameful for him to continue to behave like this now." If Missy were asked to explain what she meant by "it has come to this point," she would have no idea why.But she knew beyond doubt that he had not only kept her hopeful, but had practically promised her.Not that he'd said it explicitly to her, but he showed it with glances, smiles, hints, and acquiescence.She always thought he belonged to her, and it would be too embarrassing for her to lose him.