A Lear of the Steppes, etc.

by Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev

I went out on to the terrace with Schimmel. The old man raised his eyes towards the sky.

‘How many stars!’ he said slowly, taking a pinch of snuff; ‘and all are worlds,’ he added, and he took another pinch.

I did not feel it necessary to answer him, and simply gazed upwards in silence. A secret uncertainty weighed upon my heart.… The stars, I fancied, looked down seriously at us. Five minutes later Priemkov appeared and called us into the dining-room. Vera Nikolaevna came in soon after. We sat down.

‘Look at Verotchka,’ Priemkov said to me.

I glanced at her.

‘Well? don’t you notice anything?’

I certainly did notice a change in her face, but I answered, I don’t know why—

‘No, nothing.’

‘Her eyes are red,’ Priemkov went on.

I was silent.