9. IX.
The young Prince had, in reality, become the happy
husband of Helena. His love for her had grown to be a
shaping and organizing influence, without which his nature
would have fallen into its former confusion. If a
thought of a less honorable relation had ever entered his
mind, it was presently banished by the respect which a
nearer intimacy inspired; and thus Helena, magnetically
drawing to the surface only his best qualities, loved, unconsciously
to herself, her own work in him. Ere long,
she saw that she might balance the advantages he had
conferred upon her in their marriage by the support and
encouragement which she was able to impart to him; and
this knowledge, removing all painful sense of obligation,
made her both happy and secure in her new position.
The Princess Martha, under some presentiment of
her approaching death, had intrusted one of the ladies in
attendance upon her with the secret of her son's marriage,
in addition to a tender maternal message, and such presents
of money and jewelry as she was able to procure
without her husband's knowledge. These presents reached
Boris very opportunely; for, although Helena developed
a wonderful skill in regulating his expenses, the spring
was approaching, and even the limited circle of society in
which they had moved during the gay season had made
heavy demands upon his purse. He became restless and
abstracted, until his wife, who by this time clearly comprehended
the nature of his trouble, had secretly decided
how it must be met.
The slender hoard of the old music-master, with a few
thousand rubles from Prince Boris, sufficed for his modest
maintenance. Being now free from the charge of his
daughter, he determined to visit Germany, and, if circumstances
were propitious, to secure a refuge for his old age
in his favorite Leipsic. Summer was at hand, and the
court had already removed to Oranienbaum. In a few
weeks the capital would be deserted.
“Shall we go to Germany with your father?” asked
Boris, as he sat at a window with Helena, enjoying the
long twilight.
“No, my Boris,” she answered; “we will go to
Kinesma.”
“But— Helena,—golubchik,—mon ange,—are you in
earnest?”
“Yes, my Boris. The last letter from your—our
cousin Nadejda convinces me that the step must be taken.
Prince Alexis has grown much older since your mother's
death; he is lonely and unhappy. He may not welcome
us, but he will surely suffer us to come to him; and we
must then begin the work of reconciliation. Reflect, my
Boris, that you have keenly wounded him in the tenderest
part,—his pride,—and you must therefore cast away your
own pride, and humbly and respectfully, as becomes a
son, solicit his pardon.”
“Yes,” said he, hesitatingly, “you are right. But I
know his violence and recklessness, as you do not. For
myself, alone, I am willing to meet him; yet I fear for
your sake. Would you not tremble to encounter a maddened
and brutal mujik?—then how much more to meet
Alexis Pavlovitch of Kinesma!”
“I do not and shall not tremble,” she replied. “It
is not your marriage that has estranged your father, but
your marriage with me. Having been, unconsciously, the
cause of the trouble, I shall deliberately, and as a sacred
duty, attempt to remove it. Let us go to Kinesma, as
humble, penitent children, and cast ourselves upon your
father's mercy. At the worst, he can but reject us; and
you will have given me the consolation of knowing that I
have tried, as your wife, to annul the sacrifice you have
made for my sake.”
“Be it so, then!” cried Boris, with a mingled feeling
of relief and anxiety.
He was not unwilling that the attempt should be
made, especially since it was his wife's desire; but he
knew his father too well to anticipate immediate success.
All threatening possibilities suggested themselves to his
mind; all forms of insult and outrage which he had seen
perpetrated at Kinesma filled his memory. The suspense
became at last worse than any probable reality. He wrote
to his father, announcing a speedy visit from himself and
his wife; and two days afterwards the pair left St. Petersburg
in a large travelling kibitka.
