‘Well, I have long suspected thee. Any man might well desire so fair a creature, and it has seemed to me that she is more to thee than thou wouldst have me think. I am determined that none shall possess this maiden but I. Be sure, my friend, that when Mazeppa is resolved upon any matter, that matter is in the end accomplished.’
‘Dear heart!’ I exclaimed, laughing aloud, ‘have the girl for thy own if thou canst—what is she to me? Only I have done with serving thee in this matter. To be treated thus, and threatened, and what not, after I have toiled and bled in thy cause! This is ingratitude, Mazeppa, and thy thanklessness shall serve thee ill; for be sure thou shalt need a friend to help thee before Vera is thine and safely in thy hands!’
‘Well, if I have truly wronged you, I ask pardon. I am in love with the wench, and a man in love is not his own master; forgive me if I have suspected you foolishly. Continue to be my friend in this, I pray you. You have done excellently, so far; so well, indeed, that it is your very zeal that has caused me to suspect you of working for yourself and not for me. But stay, why shall I need a friend now that she is safely out of the terem? Are there difficulties that I know not of?’
‘There is the old Boyar, her father. Failing her marriage with the Tsar he has, I know, other intentions for her. There is a rich and powerful Boyar, their neighbour in the country, for whom he intends her—an old man.’
‘Good, an old man. Ha! then the wench herself will be on our side; we will devise a plan, Chelminsky, and thou shalt help me to carry her away. By the saints, it seems I have wronged thee most foully! The beauty of the girl is my excuse, for truly I do not even now understand how any man can know her and not love her. Lord! when I think of it, I suspect thee still!’
‘That is for ever the way of a man when he is fully in love; he must needs suspect that all other men are of the same way of thinking as himself! It is a good thing that men differ in their opinion of a woman. This Vera is certainly fair enough, but to my eyes there are others as fair and fairer. I doubt not my old love will come back to me, now that she has failed to outdo Praskovia Soltikof in the regard of the Tsar. I would punish her for her conduct in throwing me over, but, by the saints, one must forgive her something for her good looks: she is as splendid as the day, and that is plain truth.’
‘Olga Panief you speak of? Yes, she is splendid, and I doubt not she would return to thee; but—shall I deal friendly with thee, Chelminsky?’
‘If you will; have I not deserved it?’
‘I fear thy anger; well, I will brave it for thy sake. Be careful with this wench Olga, my friend. Do not trust her too much. I have told thee of her violence within the terem when she found that the Tsar would choose Praskovia before her. She is a fiend, no less. She is mad with rage and the desire of vengeance. This very day she has avowed her love for me, or rather she has offered me her love upon conditions——’
‘Avowed her love for you!’ I exclaimed, starting to my feet, as though in fury, though in truth I felt more inclined to laugh than to rage; ‘and you dare to tell me this, Mazeppa?’