listened to all the prince

Mavra was in great excitement. She hadsaid, she had overheard it all , but there was much she had not understood. She was Longing to ask questions, and make







surmises. But meantime she looked serious, and even proud. She, too, realized that much was changed.







We remained alone. Natasha took my hand, and for some time was silent, as though seeking for something to say.







“I’m tired,” she said at last in a weak voice. “ Listen, are you going to them tomorrow?”







“Of course.”







“Tell mamma, but don’t speak to ORM him.”







“I never speak of you to him, anyway.”







“Of course; he’ll find out without that. But notice what he says. How he takes it. Good heavens, Vanya, will he really curse me for this marriage? No, impossible.”







“The prince will have to make everything right,” I put in hurriedly. “They must be reconciled and then everything will go smoothly.”







“My God! If that could only be! If that could only be!” she cried imploringly.







“Don’t worry yourself, Natasha, everything will come right. Everything points to it.”







She looked at me intently.







“Vanya, what do you think of the prince?”







“If he was sincere in what he said, then to my thinking he’s a really generous man.”







“Sincere in what he said? What does that mean? Surely he couldn’t have been speaking insincerely?”







“I agree with you,” I answered. “Then some idea did occur to her,” I thought. “That’s strange!”







“You kept looking at him . . . so intently .”







“Yes, I thought him rather strange.”