XII
It thus came about that Miss Pólozova became acquainted with Viéra Pavlovna. She went to see her the very next morning; and Beaumont was so much interested, that he came back in the evening to find out how Katerina Vasílyevna liked her new acquaintance and the new enterprise.
Katerina Vasílyevna was greatly inspired. Her melancholy had entirely disappeared; her dreaminess had given way to enthusiasm. She eagerly related to Beaumont—and she had already told her father, but once telling of it was not enough—what she had seen that morning, and there seemed to be no end to her story; yes, now her heart was full. She had found a lively enterprise. Beaumont listened to her attentively; but can one be satisfied with listening only? And she said, almost with vexation, “Mr. Beaumont, I am disappointed in you. Does it have so little effect on you, that it only interests you, and nothing more?”
“Katerina Vasílyevna, you forget that I have seen all this at home in America; some of the details may be interesting to me; but the enterprise itself is too familiar to me. Only the people who carry it on with such success are of interest to me, while to you the thing is a novelty. For instance, what can you tell me about Madame Kirsánova?”
“Akh! Bozhe moï! Of course I liked her very much indeed. She was so lovely in describing everything to me.”
“You told me that before.”
“What else do you want? What more can I tell you? What attention could I give to her when I had such a novel thing before my eyes?”
“That is so,” said Beaumont; “I understand we entirely forget about persons when we are interested in things; however, can’t you tell me something else about Madame Kirsánova?”
Katerina Vasílyevna tried to gather all her recollections about Viéra Pavlovna, but she could only bring back the first impression which Viéra Pavlovna made upon her; she gave a very lively picture of her personal appearance, her way of speaking, all, in fact, that the eye takes in when meeting a stranger for the first time; but further, there was absolutely nothing in her recollections of Viéra Pavlovna that was of special interest: it was her workshop, workshop, workshop, and Viéra Pavlovna’s explanations about the workshop. She understood the explanations perfectly, but Viéra Pavlovna herself, from the time that followed their first meeting, made no impression upon her.
“And so this time I am disappointed in my expectations in learning about Madame Kirsánova; but I am not going to give you up; in a few days I shall ask you again about her.”
“But why don’t you yourself make her acquaintance, if she interests you so?”
“I should like to do so; maybe I will do so some time. But before, I must learn more about her.”—Beaumont was silent for a moment.—“I was wondering whether to ask you or not; but it seems better to ask you, if you should happen to mention my name in your conversation with her, please don’t tell her that I have made any inquiries about her, or that I want to make her acquaintance some time.”
“That’s very mysterious, Mr. Beaumont,” said Katerina Vasílyevna in a serious tone. “You want to find out about them, and yet you yourself want to be concealed.”
“Yes, Katerina Vasílyevna; how can I explain that to you? I am afraid to make their acquaintance.”
“This is very strange, Mr. Beaumont.”
“It is true. I will speak plainer; I am afraid that it would be disagreeable to her. They have never heard my name. But I might have had some intercourse with some of the people that are friends of theirs, or even with themselves; it is all the same. In a word, I must know first whether it would be agreeable to them to make my acquaintance.”
“All this is strange, Mr. Beaumont.”
“I am an honest man, Katerina Vasílyevna; let me assure you that I would never think of putting you into a false position; this is only the second time that I have ever seen you, but I have a great respect for you.”
“I also see, Mr. Beaumont, that you are a man worthy of respect, but—”
“If you think that I am a man worthy of respect, you will allow me to call upon you, so that when you know me well enough, I can ask you again about the Kirsánofs. Or, rather, you will speak about them yourself when it will seem to you that you can fulfil my request which I shall make now, and which I shall not repeat. Do you agree?”
“All right, Mr. Beaumont,” said Katerina Vasílyevna, slightly shrugging her shoulders. “But you must confess that—”
Again she did not want to finish her sentence.
“That my action seems rather suspicious? True; but I will wait till you get over your suspicions.”