This difference between the two men has an important influence on their pecuniary affairs.  The stewards of both steal from their masters; but that of Ivan Ivan’itch steals with difficulty, and to a very limited extent, whereas that of Victor Alexandr’itch steals regularly and methodically, and counts his gains, not by kopecks, but by roubles.  Though the two estates are of about the same size and value, they give a very different revenue.  The rough, practical man has a much larger income than his elegant, well-educated neighbour, and at the same time spends very much less.  The consequences of this, if not at present visible, must some day become painfully apparent.  Ivan Ivan’itch will doubtless leave to his children an unencumbered estate and a certain amount of capital.  The children of Victor Alexandr’itch have a different prospect.  He has already begun to mortgage his property and to cut down the timber, and he always finds a deficit at the end of the year.  What will become of his wife and children when the estate comes to be sold for payment of the mortgage, it is difficult to predict.  He thinks very little of that eventuality, and when his thoughts happen to wander in that direction he consoles himself with the thought that before the crash comes he will have inherited a fortune from a rich uncle who has no children.

The proprietors of the old school lead the same uniform, monotonous life year after year, with very little variation.  Victor Alexandr’itch, on the contrary, feels the need of a periodical return to “civilised society,” and accordingly spends a few weeks every winter in St. Petersburg.  During the summer months he has the society of his brother—­un homme tout a fait civilise—­who possesses an estate a few miles off.

This brother, Vladimir Alexandr’itch, was educated in the School of Law in St. Petersburg, and has since risen rapidly in the service.  He holds now a prominent position in one of the Ministries, and has the honourary court title of “Chambellan de sa Majeste.”  He is a marked man in the higher circles of the Administration, and will, it is thought, some day become Minister.  Though an adherent of enlightened views, and a professed “Liberal,” he contrives to keep on very good terms with those who imagine themselves to be “Conservatives.”  In this he is assisted by his soft, oily manner.  If you express an opinion to him he will always begin by telling you that you are quite right; and if he ends by showing you that you are quite wrong, he will at least make you feel that your error is not only excusable, but in some way highly creditable to your intellectual acuteness or goodness of heart.  In spite of his Liberalism he is a staunch Monarchist, and considers that the time has not yet come for the Emperor to grant a Constitution.  He recognises that the present order of things has its defects, but thinks that, on the whole, it acts very well, and would act much better if certain high officials were removed, and more energetic men put