“What do they do here on Sunday?”
“They sit at home; Pan Gantovski comes to dinner.”
Pan Stanislav knew this Gantovski as a small boy. In those times they nicknamed him “Little Bear,” for he was a thick little fellow, awkward and surly. The servant explained that Pan Gantovski’s father had died about five years before, and that the young man was managing his estate in the neighboring Yalbrykov.
“And does he come here every Sunday?”
“Sometimes he comes on a week day in the evening.”
“A rival!” thought Pan Stanislav. After a while he inquired,—
“Has the old gentleman risen?”
“It must be that he has rung the bell, for Yozef has gone to him.”
“Who is Yozef?”
“The valet.”