"The whole province is whirling round," said Tchichikoff, as he retreated into the background; but as soon as the ladies took their seats again after the dance was over, he immediately began to look about in all directions to try if possible, to discover by the expression of their faces or the sparkling of their eyes, who the authoress of the letter might be. Everywhere his eyes met with glances that betrayed a nearly imperceptible expression of captivating attraction, so very imperceptible.
"No," said Tchichikoff to himself, "women are such subjects, that—" Here he could not help moving about his right arm in the air, and then he continued; "it is perfectly useless to speak of them. If anyone was to attempt to describe or define all that which flushes their faces, the serpentine movements of their muscles, the insinuating glances, all this, and much more, the result would be, that he could define nothing whatever. Their eyes alone, are in themselves an unlimited empire, in which to venture decides the fate of man. From those boundaries he is sure never to return, nor will any mechanical instrument, however cleverly contrived, hook him out of it again. Were I to venture, for an example, to give an idea of their glance: so dewy, velvety. Heaven knows what else their expression and colour conveys to the human mind; there are some looks full of harshness, and others again full of tenderness; some full of longing, or as some say, full of effeminacy, or devoid of this peculiar softness, but what is more dangerous than all these expressions, is to be caught and captivated by such looks, when they pierce the heart, and when you find yourself utterly enthralled. No, it is really impossible to find the right term: the half of the human race devote their lives to gallantry, and to nothing else but that."
Meanwhile Tchichikoff became more and more bewildered, and incapable of deciding who the fair authoress of the letter might be. As he was trying to give a greater effect to the piercing glance of his eyes, he seemed to discover that the ladies on their part had also increased the expression of their glances, in which he fancied he beheld hope mingled with sweet torments, all calculated to destroy the peace of his tormented heart, so acutely did he seem to feel it, that he at last exclaimed: "No, tis of no use, I cannot guess which it is."
This, however, did not completely destroy the excellent humour he was in. Unconstrained and with perfect freedom, he proceeded to exchange complimentary remarks with several ladies, approached them with a firm and easy step, or, as they say, he paced it gallantly, as old bachelor-fashionables do in their high-heeled boots, when they have all the appearance of racing mice, running and hopping in turn. Pacing thus gallantly, with graceful inclinations towards the right and towards the left, he executed at the same time with his foot, something like the tail of a shooting star, or uncommonly like a comma.
The ladies were, of course, not only delighted with him, but discovered a variety of more pleasing and fashionable manners in him, and they even thought they perceived in his face the undeniable signs of a high mind and something aristocratic and martial in his countenance, which qualities, as is well known, please ladies exceedingly. On his account there arose nearly a little scandal: it had been observed that Tchichikoff chose to take his position more generally close to the entrance door; some of the ladies having noticed this, hastened immediately a dance was over, to secure a seat in that part of the salon, and if one of them had been more successful than the others, there arose immediately a sensation among them, which threatened to become really serious, for such pushing conduct was pronounced by those who were too late, and of course disappointed, to be highly improper and importunate.
[CHAPTER XIV.]
It is thus that Tchichikoff entertained the ladies, or rather, and better, it is thus that the ladies entertained and surrounded him on all sides with their chit-chat, interspersing it with endless insinuations and fine allegories, which were left for him to guess and interpret to the best of his intelligence, which, however, caused the perspiration to appear in large drops on his forehead; he was so captivated by their amiability that he had entirely forgotten to pay his tribute of respect in the first instance to the lady of the house. He only bethought himself of his forgetfulness, when her ladyship had been already standing for a few moments before him.
Her Excellency, the wife of the Lord-Lieutenant, said in a more than flattering tone of voice, and with a graceful movement of the head; "Ah, Pavel Ivanovitch, at last I have the pleasure to meet you!" I cannot exactly remember the words her Excellency spoke on that occasion, but they were full of that peculiar affability, which is used in modern novels, describing the fashions in high circles. Our hero turned round, and was just on the point of returning the compliment of her ladyship, and perhaps with as much good taste as any other hero of a novel, when suddenly raising his eyes, he stopped short, as if from the effects of an electric stroke.
Before him stood her ladyship, but not alone. She gave her arm to a charming blondine, with fine and regular features, with a round yet pointed chin, a bewitching oval face, such a head as an artiste would have chosen as a model for his Madonna, and which faces are indeed very rare appearances in Russia, where a taste for strongly developed forms is prevalent in everything, in mountains, in forests, and in steppes, in faces, in lips and in feet; it was the same fair blonde with whom he met on his road when leaving Nosdrieff's estate, and when, through the inadvertence of the coachmen, or the fault of the horses, their carriages had come into collision, and given so much trouble to the peasants to separate and bring them in order again. Tchichikoff became so much confused at seeing her that he could not utter a sensible phrase, and therefore stammered a few words, Heaven knows what, but something which a hero of a modern novel would never have ventured.