Vasili Ivanitch looked thunderstruck.
"Then is Monsieur Kirsanov leaving us?" he inquired.
"Yes, and I am going with him."
Vasili Ivanitch fidgeted for a moment or two.
"You say that you are going with him?" he murmured.
"Yes. I must go. So pray have the horses sent forward as requested."
"I—I will, I will," the old man stuttered. "So they are to go to Thedot's? Yes, yes, very well. Only, only—is there any particular reason for this change of plan?"
"There is. I am engaged to pay Arkady a short visit. That done, I will return to you."
"Only to be a short visit? Good!" And Vasili Ivanitch pulled out his pocket-handkerchief, and blew his nose. In doing so, he bent his head very low—almost to the ground. "Well, well! Things shall be as you desire. Yet we had hoped that you would have stayed with us a little longer. Three days only! Three days after three years of absence! Ah, that is not much, Evgenii—it is not much!"
"But I tell you I intend to return soon. You see, I must go."