"Go ahead!"
The carriage trundled over the road on which the funeral cortege had passed. Of the participants who were dressed in surtouts, besides Ladislaus, only Dolhanski remained. He felt that, as a relative of the deceased, it was also his duty to entertain the priests who officiated at the obsequies; and besides, he had other reasons which induced him to remain in Ladislaus' company.
They had barely settled in the britzska, when he began to look around among the peasants, who still stood here and there in groups, and then asked:
"Where is the notary Dzwonkowski?"
Ladislaus smiled and replied:
"He rode ahead with the priests, but to-night you will see him at Jastrzeb, for he invited himself there."
"So; then I regret that I did not return with the ladies. I wanted to wring from him some information regarding the will, and I thought that later that might not be possible."
"Patience. The notary told me that the will is to be opened the day after to-morrow in his office and that we will have to drive over there for that purpose."
"But I wished to know to-day whether it will be worth while for me to wait until to-morrow or the day after. If this precious uncle of ours has let us drift, as the saying is, upon a swift current of water, then Pani Wlocka was right in offering us words of consolation. I, at least, will need them for a long time."
"How can you talk that way?"