I had too much faith in it.
I took Nellie by the arm and we went out.
It was past two o’clock in the afternoon.
A storm was coming on.
For some time past the weather had been hot and stifling, but now we heard in the distance the first rumble of early spring thunder.
The wind swept through the dusty streets.
We got into a droshky.
Nellie did not utter a word all the way, she only looked at me from time to time with the same strange and enigmatic eyes.
Her bosom was heaving, and, holding her on the droshky, I felt against my hand the thumping of her little heart, which seemed as though it would leap out of her body.
Chapter VII
THE way seemed endless to me.
At last we arrived and I went in to my old friends with a sinking at my heart.
I did not know what my leavetaking would be like, but I knew that at all costs I must not leave their house without having won forgiveness and reconciliation.
It was by now past three.
My old friends were, as usual, sitting alone.
Nikolay Sergeyitch was unnerved and ill, and lay pale and exhausted, half reclining in his comfortable easychair, with his head tied up in a kerchief.
Anna Andreyevna was sitting beside him, from time to time moistening his forehead with vinegar, and continually peeping into his face with a questioning and commiserating expression, which seemed to worry and even annoy the old man.
He was obstinately silent, and she dared not be the first to speak.
Our sudden arrival surprised them both.
Anna Andreyevna, for some reason, took fright at once on seeing me with Nellie, and for the first minute looked at us as though she suddenly felt guilty.
“You see, I’ve brought you my Nellie,” I said, going in.
She has made up her mind, and now she has come to you of her own accord.
Receive her and love her. . . .”
The old man looked at me suspiciously, and from his eyes alone one could divine that he knew all, that is that Natasha was now alone, deserted, abandoned, and by now perhaps insulted.
He was very anxious to learn the meaning of our arrival, and he looked inquiringly at both of us.
Nellie was trembling, and tightly squeezing my hand in hers she kept her eyes on the ground and only from time to time stole frightened glances about her like a little wild creature in a snare.
But Anna Andreyevna soon recovered herself and grasped the situation. She positively pounced on Nellie, kissed her, petted her, even cried over her, and tenderly made her sit beside her, keeping the child’s hand in hers.
Nellie looked at her askance with curiosity and a sort of wonder.
But after fondling Nellie and making her sit beside her, the old lady did not know what to do next and began looking at me with naive expectation.
The old man frowned, almost suspecting why I had brought Nellie.
Seeing that I was noticing his fretful expression and frowning brows, he put his hand to his head and said:
“My head aches, Vanya.”
All this time we sat without speaking. I was considering how to begin.
It was twilight in the room, a black stormcloud was coming over the sky, and there came again a rumble of thunder in the distance.
“We’re getting thunder early this spring,” said the old man.
But I remember in ‘37 there were thunderstorms even earlier.”
Anna Andreyevna sighed.
“Shall we have the samovar?” she asked timidly, but no one answered, and she turned to Nellie again.
“What is your name, my darling?” she asked.
Nellie uttered her name in a faint voice, and her head drooped lower than ever.
The old man looked at her intently.
“The same as Elena, isn’t it?” Anna Andreyevna went on with more animation..
“Yes,” answered Nellie. And again a moment of silence followed.
“Praskovya Andreyevna’s sister had a niece whose name was Elena; and she used to be called Nellie, too, I remember.” observed Nikolay Sergeyitch.
“And have you no relations, my darling, neither father nor mother?” Anna Andreyevna asked again.
“No,” Nellie jerked out in a timid whisper.
“I’d heard so, I’d heard so.
Is it long since your mother died?”
“No, not long.”
“Poor darling, poor little orphan,” Anna Andreyevna went on, looking at her compassionately.