PART IV
7. CHAPTER VII.
(continued)
"Oh! yes, long ago," continued Ivan Petrovitch, "while you were
living with my cousin at Zlatoverhoff. You don't remember me? No,
I dare say you don't; you had some malady at the time, I
remember. It was so serious that I was surprised--"
"No; I remember nothing!" said the prince. A few more words of
explanation followed, words which were spoken without the
smallest excitement by his companion, but which evoked the
greatest agitation in the prince; and it was discovered that two
old ladies to whose care the prince had been left by Pavlicheff,
and who lived at Zlatoverhoff, were also relations of Ivan
Petrovitch.
The latter had no idea and could give no information as to why
Pavlicheff had taken so great an interest in the little prince,
his ward.
"In point of fact I don't think I thought much about it," said
the old fellow. He seemed to have a wonderfully good memory,
however, for he told the prince all about the two old ladies,
Pavlicheff's cousins, who had taken care of him, and whom, he
declared, he had taken to task for being too severe with the
prince as a small sickly boy--the elder sister, at least; the
younger had been kind, he recollected. They both now lived in
another province, on a small estate left to them by Pavlicheff.
The prince listened to all this with eyes sparkling with emotion
and delight.
He declared with unusual warmth that he would never forgive
himself for having travelled about in the central provinces
during these last six months without having hunted up his two old
friends.
He declared, further, that he had intended to go every day, but
had always been prevented by circumstances; but that now he would
promise himself the pleasure--however far it was, he would find
them out. And so Ivan Petrovitch REALLY knew Natalia Nikitishna!--
what a saintly nature was hers!--and Martha Nikitishna! Ivan
Petrovitch must excuse him, but really he was not quite fair on
dear old Martha. She was severe, perhaps; but then what else
could she be with such a little idiot as he was then? (Ha, ha.)
He really was an idiot then, Ivan Petrovitch must know, though he
might not believe it. (Ha, ha.) So he had really seen him there!
Good heavens! And was he really and truly and actually a cousin
of Pavlicheff's?
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