CHAPTER II.

Several years passed, and family circumstances compelled me to settle in the poor little village of M—–.  Occupied with agricultural pursuits, I ceased not to sigh in secret for my former noisy and careless life.  The most difficult thing of all was having to accustom myself to passing the spring and winter evenings in perfect solitude.  Until the hour for dinner I managed to pass away the time somehow or other, talking with the bailiff, riding about to inspect the work, or going round to look at the new buildings; but as soon as it began to get dark, I positively did not know what to do with myself.  The few books that I had found in the cupboards and storerooms I already knew by heart.  All the stories that my housekeeper Kirilovna could remember I had heard over and over again.  The songs of the peasant women made me feel depressed.  I tried drinking spirits, but it made my head ache; and moreover, I confess I was afraid of becoming a drunkard from mere chagrin, that is to say, the saddest kind of drunkard, of which I had seen many examples in our district.

I had no near neighbors, except two or three topers, whose conversation consisted for the most part of hiccups and sighs.  Solitude was preferable to their society.  At last I decided to go to bed as early as possible, and to dine as late as possible; in this way I shortened the evening and lengthened out the day, and I found that the plan answered very well.

Four versts from my house was a rich estate belonging to the Countess B—–­; but nobody lived there except the steward.  The Countess had only visited her estate once, in the first year of her married life, and then she had remained there no longer than a month.  But in the second spring of my hermitical life a report was circulated that the Countess, with her husband, was coming to spend the summer on her estate.  The report turned out to be true, for they arrived at the beginning of June.

The arrival of a rich neighbor is an important event in the lives of country people.  The landed proprietors and the people of their households talk about it for two months beforehand and for three years afterwards.  As for me, I must confess that the news of the arrival of a young and beautiful neighbor affected me strongly.  I burned with impatience to see her, and the first Sunday after her arrival I set out after dinner for the village of A—–­, to pay my respects to the Countess and her husband, as their nearest neighbor and most humble servant.  A lackey conducted me into the Count’s study, and then went to announce me.  The spacious apartment was furnished with every possible luxury.  Around the walls were cases filled with books and surmounted by bronze busts; over the marble mantelpiece was a large mirror; on the floor was a green cloth covered with carpets.  Unaccustomed to luxury in my own poor corner, and not having seen the wealth of other people for a long