"It is my fault; but I cannot impose myself on men who repulse me."
"Rather, is it not you who repulse them?"
The remark sounded like a reproach.
"How? I? They avoid me because my dear old mother, who is endowed with many excellent qualities, is not an elegant and fashionable woman. Is that any reason why I should not love her and cherish her? The ridiculous snobbishness of my so-called friends will not regulate my conduct."
"Is it your mother alone that keeps you from us? Perhaps there is another person who absorbs your time?"
Jacob opened his eyes, astonished. There was something in his look so open and reassuring, that she felt shaken in her conviction. She blushed, and was too embarrassed to prolong the conversation, so she rose and went to sit near Muse. She took her leave soon, bowing to Jacob from a distance.
The latter was downcast. He sought in vain the key to this enigma. He understood that some one had calumniated him to his beloved, but who or what it was he could not imagine.
In the salon the conversation was animated. Colonel Sofronof, Count Bavorof, Muse, and the Counsellor Pikulinski made most of the noise. The recent recruiting, from which had burst out the first revolutionary spark, was the subject of the discussion. Sofronof did not approve of the measure, and commenced to question the genius of the Marquis Wielopolski. The Count Bavorof, with his ideas fresh from Moscow, told of the atrocious repressions, since perfected and adopted with so much cruelty, which the journalist, Katkof, was disposed to raise to the height of a system.
The Counsellor Pikulinski was one of those counsellors from whom no one expects the least counsel. He was an absolute nonentity. The sole thought which predominated in his poorly developed brain was the perpetual fear of compromising himself. Like a doll that always squeaks alike when it is struck in the stomach, at each instant he repeated the word "yes," with an approving nod of the head.
It mattered little to Pikulinski if the "yes" accorded to one person contradicted the "yes" offered to another. The essential thing with him was not to oppose superior authority or its representatives. Thanks to this invariable line of conduct, he had made a splendid career in the bureaucratic hierarchy. Decorated with the cordon of Saint Stanislas, the cross of Saint Waldimir, he enjoyed the entire confidence of the government as a reward of twenty-five years of faithful service.