At first we did not see her, as she stood a little back in the shadow; but, at the sound of our voices, she came forward, wrapped in furs, with her cap drawn so closely over her face that only a very small part of it was visible. I noticed, too, that she had on eyeglasses, which I had seen her wear once or twice in the street, and which I thought very becoming to her. By way of explanation, she said to me that her eyes were so weak from the effects of her cold that she was wearing the glasses as a protection from the wind and the glare of light on the river. I remembered afterward, when many things came to me, that there were no signs of her cold in her voice, which was natural, but very low, as we walked side by side to one of the shelters, where we took a seat.
Her mother was a good deal upset, she said, with the visit of the gendarme looking for Ivan, while she herself was nervous to an extent she did not understand.
“That it should have happened before you humiliated us greatly,” she said. “You saw my father arrested; you saw them searching for Ivan. Fate seems to have drawn us together in a strange manner. You may see me arrested before you leave this accursed country.”
She laughed, but there was bitterness in the laugh, and her voice had a hard ring in it I had never heard before. I wanted to ask her if she knew of what her brother was suspected, and if she had any reason to think he was in the city; but a feeling of delicacy restrained me.
“And with her a big dog, jumping and leaping.”
I spoke of the dinner with Madame Seguin, and she said:
“Yes, I know; and you ought to feel honored. Madame does not often entertain. She is proud and hard—harder than her son, whose vocation does not suit her.”
“Do you know why he took it up?” I asked, and she replied:
“Only by hearsay, which is not always reliable. I have heard that he was once a nihilist, or a sympathizer with them, and sought after by the police. To save himself, he left the ranks and became what he is. Just what he believes I do not know. He stands high with his employers as a faithful and competent officer. I think, too, that he means to be kind to the poor wretches who are so unfortunate as to be caught by him.”