"I know the will was made,
but I also know that it is invalid;
and you, mon cousin, seem to consider me a perfect fool,"
said the princess with the expression women assume
when they suppose they are
saying something witty and stinging.
"My dear Princess Catherine Semenovna,"
began Prince Vasili impatiently,
"I came here not to wrangle with you,
but to talk about your interests as with a kinswoman,
a good, kind, true relation.
And I tell you for the tenth time that if the letter
to the Emperor and
the will in Pierre's favor are among the count's papers,
then, my dear girl,
you and your sisters are not heiresses!
If you don't believe me,
then believe an expert.
I have just been talking to Dmitri Onufrich"
(the family solicitor) "and he says the same."
At this a sudden change evidently took place
in the princess' ideas;
her thin lips grew white,
though her eyes did not change,
and her voice when she began to speak passed through
such transitions as she herself evidently did not expect.
"That would be a fine thing!"
said she.
"I never wanted anything and I don't now."
She pushed the little dog off her lap
and smoothed her dress.
"And this is gratitude-
this is recognition for those
who have sacrificed everything for his sake!"
she cried.
"It's splendid!
Fine! I don't want anything, Prince."
"Yes, but you are not the only one.
There are your sisters..."
replied Prince Vasili.
But the princess did not listen to him.
"Yes, I knew it long ago but had forgotten.
I knew that I could expect nothing but meanness,
deceit, envy, intrigue,
and ingratitude-
the blackest ingratitude-
in this house..."
"Do you or do you not know where that will is?"
insisted Prince Vasili,
his cheeks twitching more than ever.
"Yes, I was a fool!
I still believed in people,
loved them, and sacrificed myself.
But only the base, the vile succeed!
I know who has been intriguing!"
The princees wished to rise,
but the prince held her by the hand.
She had the air of one who has suddenly lost faith
in the whole human race.
She gave her companion an angry glance.
"There is still time, my dear.
You must remember, Catiche,
that it was all done casually in a moment of anger,
of illness, and was afterwards forgotten.
Our duty, my dear, is to rectify his mistake,
to ease his last moments by
not letting him commit this injustice,
and not to let him die feeling that
he is rendering unhappy those who..."
"Who sacrificed everything for him,"
chimed in the princess,
who would again have risen
had not the prince still held her fast,
"though he never could appreciate it.
No, mon cousin,"
she added with a sigh,
"I shall always remember
that in this world one must expect no reward,
that in this world there is neither honor nor justice.
In this world one has to be cunning and cruel."
"Now come, come! Be reasonable.
I know your excellent heart."
"No, I have a wicked heart."
"I know your heart," repeated the prince.
"I value your friendship and wish you
to have as good an opinion of me.
Don't upset yourself,
and let us talk sensibly while there is still time,
be it a day or be it but an hour....
Tell me all you know about the will,
and above all where it is. You must know.
We will take it at once and show it to the count.
He has, no doubt,
forgotten it and will wish to destroy it.
You understand that my sole desire
is conscientiously to carry out his wishes;
that is my only reason for being here.
I came simply to help him and you."
"Now I see it all!
I know who has been intriguing-
I know!"
cried the princess.
"That's not the point, my dear."
"It's that protege of yours,
that sweet Princess Drubetskaya,
that Anna Mikhaylovna
whom I would not take for a housemaid...
the infamous, vile woman!"
"Do not let us lose any time..."
"Ah, don't talk to me!
Last winter she wheedled herself in here
and told the count such vile,
disgraceful things about us,
especially about Sophie-
I can't repeat them-
that it made the count quite ill
and he would not see us for a whole fortnight.
I know it was then he wrote this vile, infamous paper,
but I thought the thing was invalid."
"We've got to it at last-
why did you not tell me about it sooner?"
"It's in the inlaid portfolio
that he keeps under his pillow,"
said the princess, ignoring his question.
"Now I know!
Yes; if I have a sin, a great sin,
it is hatred of that vile woman!"
almost shrieked the princess, now quite changed.
"And what does she come worming herself in here for?
But I will give her a piece of my mind.
The time will come!"