Chapter 101 Part Two - Thirty Nine

The coach in which Nekhludoff was traveling was still two hours away.Nekhludoff had wanted to take advantage of this time to go to his sister's house, but what he had seen this morning had left him exhausted with emotion, and when he sat on the sofa in the first-class waiting room he felt extremely sleepy.He turned on his side, put a hand under his cheek, and immediately fell asleep. He was awakened by a waiter in a frock coat with a badge on his chest and a napkin draped over his shoulder. "Sir, sir, are you Prince Nekhludoff? A lady is looking for you." Nekhludoff jumped up, rubbed his eyes, and then remembered where he was and what had happened that morning.

The impression left in his mind is: the procession of prisoners, several dead people, the carriage with iron doors and the female prisoners locked in it, one of them is in the throes of labor, unattended, and the other is looking at him from behind the bars. smiling.But what appeared before him at this moment was a completely different scene: a large table with wine bottles, vases, candelabra and tableware, around which several clever waiters waited on the guests.There is a counter in the back of the waiting room. A waiter is standing in front of the wine cabinet inside the counter. There are various fruit plates and wine bottles on the counter. Passengers are standing by the counter with their backs to the outside.

As soon as Nekhludoff sat up on the sofa, his head cleared up a bit, when he noticed that everyone in the room was looking curiously at the door.He also looked there and saw a group of people carrying an armchair, on which sat a lady with a light veil wrapped around her head.The footman carrying the armchair in front seemed familiar to Nekhludoff.The one behind him, wearing a cap with a gold braid, was a doorman whom Nekhludoff knew.Behind the armchair was an elegantly dressed maid.Her hair was curly, she was wearing an apron, and she was carrying a parcel, a leather box with chubby things, and two parasols.Walking behind was Prince Korchagin.The duke had thick lips, a large, stroke-prone neck, a puffy chest, and a traveling cap on his head.Behind him came Missy, her cousin Misha, and the diplomat Osten, whom Nekhludoff knew.Osden had a long and thin neck, a prominent Adam's apple, and his air and mood were always cheerful.As he walked, he spoke to the smiling Missy solemnly, but with a hint of jest.And finally there's the doctor who's fuming and smoking a cigarette.

The Korchagins were moving from their estate on the outskirts of town to the estate of the Duchess's sister.The manor was on the lower town railway line. Servants carrying armchairs, maids and doctors filed into the waiting room for women, arousing the curiosity and respect of all present.As soon as the old prince sat down at the table, he immediately called the waiter to him, and asked him for food and drink.Missy and Osten also stopped in the dining room, and just about to sit down, they suddenly saw a familiar woman at the door, and walked towards her.It turned out that she was Natalia.Accompanied by Agrafena, Natalya walked into the restaurant and kept looking around.She saw Missy and her brother almost at the same time.She only nodded to Nekhludoff, and went up to Missy first.But after she had exchanged kisses with Missy, she turned and spoke to her brother.

"I've found you at last," said Natalya. Nekhludoff got up, greeted Missy, Misha, and Osten, and stopped to talk to them.Missy told Nekhludoff that the fire in their country house had forced them to move to their aunt's.Osten took the opportunity to tell a joke about the fire. Nekhludoff did not listen to Osten, but turned to talk to his sister. "I'm so glad you came," he said. "I've been here long ago," she said. "I came with Agrafena." She pointed to Agrafena. The housekeeper wore a hat and a rain-proof coat, showing a friendly and steady demeanor, shyly looking at Nie from a distance. Khludoff bowed, not wanting to disturb him. "We're looking for you everywhere."

"But here I fell asleep. I'm so glad you came," repeated Nekhludoff. "I wrote to you just now, just at the beginning," he said. "Really?" she asked worriedly. "What's the matter?" Missy and her male companion walked away when they found out that the siblings were having a secret conversation.Nekhludoff and his sister sat down on the velvet sofa by the window, where other people's luggage, blankets, and hat-boxes were still lying. "After I left your house yesterday, I wanted to go back and make amends. But I don't know how my brother-in-law will treat me," said Nekhludoff. "I didn't get along with him, and I feel very sad."

"I know," said my sister, "I'm sure you didn't mean to. You know..." Natalia's eyes filled with tears.She touches his hand.The meaning of her words was unclear, but he knew her perfectly and was touched by her affection.She originally wanted to express that besides her full love for her husband, her brotherly affection for him and her younger brother was also very important and precious to her, and any quarrel between them was painful to her. "Thank you, thank you... Oh, what did I see today!" said Nekhludoff, suddenly remembering the second dead prisoner. "Two prisoners were killed."

"How did you get killed?" "They were killed just like that. They were escorted out on such a hot day. Two of them died of heatstroke." "That's impossible! How could it be? Today? Just now?" "Yes, just now. I saw their bodies." "But why kill them? Who killed them?" asked Natalya. "It's the ones who forced them out," said Nekhludoff angrily, feeling that she was looking at the matter in the same way as her husband. "Oh, my God!" said Agraphena, coming up to them. "Yes, we don't know at all what happened to these unfortunate people, but we ought to know," said Nekhludoff, looking at the old prince.The old prince, who had wrapped his napkin by this time, was sitting at the table with the bottle of concoction, and looked round at Nekhludoff.

"Nekheludoff!" he cried, "would you like a drink to relieve the heat? It would be best to go out and have a drink!" Nekhludoff declined, and turned around. "And what are you going to do?" Natalya asked again. "Do it in my power. I don't know what to do, but I feel like something should be done. I will do it in my power." "Yes, yes, I understand that. Then, you and this family," she said, looking at Korchagin with a smile, "is it really a clean break?" "It's a clean break. I think, so that neither party will regret it."

"It's a pity. I think it's a pity. I like her. Well, that's the case, but why are you in a cocoon?" Natalya said timidly. "Why do you follow?" "That's because I should go," said Nekhludoff coldly and solemnly, as if wishing not to discuss the matter further. He was immediately ashamed, however, of being so indifferent to his sister. "Why don't I tell her what's on my mind?" he thought. "Let Agraphena listen too," he said to himself, glancing at the old maid.The presence of Agrafena encouraged him to repeat his resolution to his sister.

"You mean the fact that I want to marry Katyusha? To be honest, I was determined to do it, but she refused," he said tremblingly.He's always like that every time he talks about it. "She would not accept my sacrifice, she would have sacrificed herself, and she had sacrificed too much for her situation. I could not accept such a sacrifice if it were only on the spur of the moment. So now I am determined to be with her. Go, wherever she goes, I will follow. I will also try my best to help her and relieve her pain." Natalya said nothing.Agraphena looked at Natalya questioningly and shook her head.At this time, the original group came out of the ladies' waiting room again, and the Duchess was still carried by the handsome valet Philip and the porter.The princess gave orders to stop, beckoned to Nekhludoff, and, with a pitiful and weary look, held out to him a white hand covered with rings, and waited in fear for his firm handshake. "Damn it!" she said, referring to the heat. "I can't bear it. This weather is killing me." Then she talked for a while about the bad weather in Russia, invited Nekhludoff to play with them, and then signaled the armchair bearer to go on. "Then you must come," she said again to Nekhludoff, sitting in the armchair, turning her long face. Nekhludoff went to the platform.The Duchess' party turned a right turn and headed for the first-class carriage.Nekhludoff walked to the left with the porter and Taras carrying the bag. "Here, here is my companion," Nekhludoff said to his sister, pointing to Taras, to whom he had already told her last time. "Are you really traveling in third class?" asked Natalya, seeing Nekhludoff standing beside the third class carriage, and the porter carrying the luggage and entering that carriage with Taras. "Yes, it will be more convenient that way, and I will go with Taras," he said. "Well, there is one more thing to tell you," he added, "I have not yet distributed the Kuzminskoye land to the peasants, and in case I die, your children will inherit it." All right." "Don't talk like that, Dmitry," said Natalya. "Even if I give all that land to the peasants, I have one thing to say, that the rest of my stuff will be passed on to them, because I'm afraid I won't marry, and if I do, I won't have children...so... " "Dmitri, I beg you, don't say such things," said Natalya, but Nekhludoff saw that she was pleased by this. Ahead, beside the first-class carriage, stood a small group, still looking at the carriage into which Princess Korchagin had been carried.The rest of the people have taken their seats.A few late passengers hurried past, stomping on the wooden planks of the platform.The conductor slammed the doors, asked the passengers to take their seats, and asked those who were seeing them off to get off. Nekhludoff went into the hot and smelly carriage, and at once went out onto the little platform at the rear. Natalia, in a fashionable hat and shawl, was standing beside Agrafena by the carriage, apparently looking for something to say, but failing to find it.She didn't even think it was right to say, "Write a letter," because she and her younger brother had long laughed at the old rules of sending people out.Talk of property and inheritance broke their brotherhood; they felt estranged from each other.When the train started, she just nodded and said with a sad and kind face: "Well, good-by, Dmitri, good-by!"But as soon as the carriage left, she thought about how she should tell her husband what she had talked with her brother, and her face suddenly became serious and tense. Although Nekhludoff had always been very fond of his sister, and had never concealed anything from her, he felt awkward and embarrassed with her now, and wished to part sooner.He felt that Natalia, who was so close to him back then, no longer existed, only a shaggy, black-skinned slave who hated her husband.He saw this clearly, for her face was particularly excited when he talked about the things her husband was interested in, namely, the distribution of land to farmers and inheritance.And this made him sad.