CHAPTER 9.
LEVIN CURSED, REVIVIFIED HIS beloved-companion, and emptied his gla.s.s. The two old friends sat in silence for a time, waiting for Socrates" circuits to realign. Tea cups clinked elsewhere in the restaurant; a I/Samovar/1(8) burbled in the kitchen; a Cla.s.s I beloved-companion, and emptied his gla.s.s. The two old friends sat in silence for a time, waiting for Socrates" circuits to realign. Tea cups clinked elsewhere in the restaurant; a I/Samovar/1(8) burbled in the kitchen; a Cla.s.s I lumiere lumiere flickered to life automatically just as the gathering twilight demanded it; off in the distance on the streets outside was the tromp of 77s, the sharp hoot of their Caretaker. flickered to life automatically just as the gathering twilight demanded it; off in the distance on the streets outside was the tromp of 77s, the sharp hoot of their Caretaker.
"There"s one other thing I ought to tell you," said Stepan Arkadyich while they waited. "Do you know Vronsky?"
"No, I don"t. Why do you ask?"
"Give us another bottle," Stepan Arkadyich directed the II/Server/888 who was filling up their gla.s.ses, motoring round them just when he was not wanted. "And then turn off your sensors, will you?" Not needing to watch to make sure the white-jacketed Cla.s.s II complied, since the Iron Laws demanded obedience to a human"s every order, Stepan Arkadyich freely turned back to Levin to share his secret.
"Why you ought to know Vronsky is that he"s one of your rivals."
"Who"s Vronsky?" said Levin, and his face was suddenly transformed from the look of childlike ecstasy which Oblonsky had just been admiring to an angry and unpleasant expression.
"Vronsky is one of the sons of Count Kirill Ivanovitch Vronsky, and one of the finest specimens of the gilded youth of Petersburg. I made his acquaintance in Tver when I was there on official business, and he came there for the levy of recruits. Fearfully rich, handsome, great connections, a hero of the Border Wars, and authorized to carry a hot-whip and a pair of smokers on his belt. And with all that a very nice, good-natured fellow. But he"s more than simply a good-natured fellow, as I"ve found out here-he"s a cultivated man, too, and very intelligent; he"s a man who"ll make his mark."
Levin scowled and was dumb.
"Well, he turned up here soon after you"d gone, and as I can see, he"s over head and ears in love with Kitty, and you know that her mother . . ."
"Excuse me, but I know nothing," said Levin, frowning gloomily. And immediately he recollected his ill brother Nikolay and how hateful he was to have been able to forget him.
"You wait a bit, wait a bit," said Stepan Arkadyich, smiling and touching his hand. "I"ve told you what I know, and I repeat that in this delicate and tender matter, as far as one can conjecture, I believe the chances are in your favor."
Levin dropped back in his chair; his face was pale.
"But I would advise you to settle the thing as soon as may be," pursued Oblonsky, filling up his gla.s.s.
"No, thanks, I can"t drink any more," said Levin, pushing away his gla.s.s. "I shall be drunk. . . . Come, tell me how are you getting on?" he went on, obviously anxious to change the conversation. He glanced with frustration at Socrates, willing the robot to swiftly revivify, but his beloved-companion"s faceplate remained blank and black.
"One word more: in any case I advise you to settle the question soon. Tonight I don"t advise you to speak," said Stepan Arkadyich. "Go round tomorrow morning, make an offer in due form, and G.o.d bless you. . . ."
At once Levin"s whole soul was full of remorse that he had begun this conversation with Stepan Arkadyich. A feeling such as his was profaned by talk of the rivalry of some Petersburg officer, of the suppositions and the counsels of Stepan Arkadyich. He immediately moved to change the subject.
"Oh, do you still think of coming to me for the Hunt-and-be-Hunted? Come next spring, do," said Levin.
"I"ll come Hunt some day," he said. "But women, my boy they"re the pivot everything turns upon. Things are in a bad way with me, very bad. And it"s all through women. Tell me frankly now," he pursued, lighting the cigar that Small Stiva proffered, and keeping one hand on his gla.s.s, "give me your advice."
"Why, what is it?"
"I"ll tell you. Suppose you"re married, you love your wife, but you"re fascinated by another woman. . . ."
"Excuse me, but I"m absolutely unable to comprehend how . . . just as I can"t comprehend how I could now, after my dinner, go straight to a baker"s shop and steal a roll."
Stepan Arkadyich"s eyes sparkled more than usual. Suddenly both felt that though they were friends, though they had been dining and drinking together, which should have drawn them closer, each was thinking only of his own affairs, and they had nothing to do with one another. Oblonsky had more than once experienced this extreme sense of aloofness, instead of intimacy, coming on after dinner, and he knew what to do in such cases.
"Bill!" he called, and waited impatiently, patting the table with his hands, before remembering he had demanded the II/Server/888 turn off its sensors.
CHAPTER 10.
THE YOUNG PRINCESS Kitty Shcherbatskaya was eighteen. It was the first winter that she had been out in the world, and shortly she would at last receive her very own beloved-companion robot. Kitty"s success in society had been greater than that of either of her elder sisters, and greater even than her mother had antic.i.p.ated. To say nothing of the young men who danced at the Moscow floats being almost all in love with Kitty, two serious suitors had already this first winter made their appearance: Levin, and immediately after his departure, that dashing, smoker-wielding hero of the Border Wars, Count Vronsky. Kitty Shcherbatskaya was eighteen. It was the first winter that she had been out in the world, and shortly she would at last receive her very own beloved-companion robot. Kitty"s success in society had been greater than that of either of her elder sisters, and greater even than her mother had antic.i.p.ated. To say nothing of the young men who danced at the Moscow floats being almost all in love with Kitty, two serious suitors had already this first winter made their appearance: Levin, and immediately after his departure, that dashing, smoker-wielding hero of the Border Wars, Count Vronsky.
Levin"s appearance at the beginning of the winter, his frequent visits, and evident love for Kitty had led to the first serious conversations between Kitty"s parents as to her future, and to disputes between them. The prince was on Levin"s side; he said he wished for nothing better for Kitty. The princess for her part, going round the question in the manner peculiar to women, maintained that Kitty was too young, that Levin had done nothing to prove that he had serious intentions, that Kitty felt no great attraction to him, and other side issues; but she did not state the princ.i.p.al point, which was that she looked for a better match for her daughter, and that Levin was not to her liking, and she did not understand him. A groznium miner with a pit-burnt face and alloy dust on his hands? When Levin had abruptly departed, the princess was delighted, and said to her husband triumphantly: "You see, I was right. Let him return to his smoldering hole in the ground!"
When Vronsky appeared on the scene, she was still more delighted, confirmed in her opinion that Kitty was to make not simply a good, but a brilliant match. Vronsky satisfied all the mother"s desires. Very wealthy, clever, of aristocratic family, a known sharpshooter with a smoker, on the highroad to a brilliant career at court, and a fascinating man. Nothing better could be wished for.
Vronsky openly flirted with Kitty at the floats, hovered and flipped at her side, and came continually to the house; consequently there could be no doubt of the seriousness of his intentions. But, in spite of that, the mother had spent the whole of that winter in a state of terrible anxiety and agitation; her Cla.s.s III, a matronly machine with a French inflection called La Shcherbatskaya, had spent many an evening fanning her mistress and offering calming jets of scented air from her Third Bay.
Now she was afraid that Vronsky might confine himself to simply flirting with Kitty. She saw that her daughter was in love with him, but tried to comfort herself with the thought that he was an honorable man, and would not do this. But at the same time she knew how easy it is, with the freedom of manners of today, to turn a girl"s head, and how lightly men generally regard such a crime.
Today, with Levin"s reappearance, a fresh source of anxiety arose. "I am afraid for my daughter," she said to La Shcherbatskaya, who stood beside her, folding laundry.
"Afraid? Oh dear, madame!"
"At one time I think she had a feeling for Levin."
"Oh yes, oh yes, a feeling. A certain feeling!"
"Perhaps from some extreme sense of honor she will refuse Vronsky!"
"Refuse him! No, no, madame. Oh dear oh dear oh dear!"
"Or that Levin"s arrival might generally complicate and delay the affair so near being concluded."
At that moment the daughter entered the room to greet her mother, and the Cla.s.s III politely put herself into Surcease.
"Has he been here long?" the princess asked about Levin, after Kitty related to her the dramatic events at the skate-maze, including the heroics exhibited by Konstantin Dmitrich and his Cla.s.s III.
"He came today, Mamma."
"There"s one thing I want to say . . . ," began the princess, and from her serious and alert face, Kitty guessed what it would be.
"Mamma," she said, flushing hotly and turning quickly to her. "Please, please don"t say anything about that. I know, I know all about it."
She wished for what her mother wished for, but the motives of her mother"s wishes wounded her.
"I only want to say that to raise hopes . . ."
"Mamma, darling, for goodness" sake, don"t talk about it. It"s so horrible to talk about it."
"I won"t," said her mother, seeing the tears in her daughter"s eyes, "but one thing, my love: You promised me you would have no secrets from me. You won"t?"
"Never, Mamma, none," answered Kitty, flushing a little, and looking her mother straight in the face, "but there"s no use in my telling you anything, and I . . . I . . . if I wanted to, I don"t know what to say or how . . . I don"t know. . . ."
No, she could not tell an untruth with those eyes, thought the mother, smiling at her agitation and happiness. The princess smiled that what was taking place just now in her soul seemed to the poor child so immense and so important. thought the mother, smiling at her agitation and happiness. The princess smiled that what was taking place just now in her soul seemed to the poor child so immense and so important.
CHAPTER 11.
AFTER DINNER, AND TILL the beginning of the evening, Kitty was feeling a sensation akin to the sensation of a young man before a battle. Her heart throbbed violently, and her thoughts would not rest on anything. the beginning of the evening, Kitty was feeling a sensation akin to the sensation of a young man before a battle. Her heart throbbed violently, and her thoughts would not rest on anything.
She turned on the Galena Box, trying to calm her nerves. She felt that this evening, when they would both meet for the first time, would be a turning point in her life. And she was continually picturing them to herself, at one moment each separately, and then both together. She wished she had already received her Cla.s.s III, so she could review her past experiences more efficiently, by cuing them in the monitor of her own beloved-companion; instead she was forced to remember in the way of children, with her mind. Still she dwelt with pleasure, with tenderness, on the memories of her relations with Levin. The memories of childhood and of Levin"s friendship with her dead brother gave a special poetic charm to her relations with him. His love for her, of which she felt certain, was flattering and delightful to her; and it was pleasant for her to think of Levin. In her memories of Vronsky there always entered a certain element of awkwardness, though he was in the highest degree well-bred and at ease, as though there were some false note-not in Vronsky, he was very simple and nice, but in herself, while with Levin she felt perfectly simple and clear. But, on the other hand, when she thought of the future with Vronsky, there arose before her a perspective of brilliant happiness; with Levin the future seemed misty.
She turned up the Galena Box and carried it with her when she went upstairs to dress. Looking into the looking-gla.s.s, she noticed with joy that it was one of her good days, and that she was in complete possession of all her forces-she needed this so for what lay before her: she was conscious of external composure and free grace in her movements.
At half past seven she had only just gone down into the drawing room, when the II/Footman/C(c)43 announced, in its grandiloquent way, "Konstantin Dmitrich Levin." "Konstantin Dmitrich Levin." The princess was still in her room, and the prince had not come in. The princess was still in her room, and the prince had not come in. So it is to be, So it is to be, thought Kitty, and all the blood seemed to rush to her heart. She was horrified at her paleness, as she glanced into the looking-gla.s.s. At that moment she knew beyond doubt that he had come early on purpose to find her alone and to make her an offer. And only then for the first time the whole thing presented itself in a new, different aspect; only then she realized that the question did not affect her only-with whom she would be happy, and whom she loved-but that she would have that moment to wound a man whom she liked. And to wound him cruelly. She wished she could render herself invisible . . . though of course invisibility was impossible, and indeed experimentation into it was strictly forbidden. thought Kitty, and all the blood seemed to rush to her heart. She was horrified at her paleness, as she glanced into the looking-gla.s.s. At that moment she knew beyond doubt that he had come early on purpose to find her alone and to make her an offer. And only then for the first time the whole thing presented itself in a new, different aspect; only then she realized that the question did not affect her only-with whom she would be happy, and whom she loved-but that she would have that moment to wound a man whom she liked. And to wound him cruelly. She wished she could render herself invisible . . . though of course invisibility was impossible, and indeed experimentation into it was strictly forbidden.
Konstantin Dmitrich, dear fellow, loved her, was in love with her. But there was no help for it, so it must be, so it would have to be.
"My G.o.d! Shall I myself really have to say it to him? Can I tell him I don"t love him? That will be a lie. What am I to say to him? That I love someone else? No, that"s impossible. I"m going away, I"m going away."
She had reached the door when she heard his step. "What have I to be afraid of? I have done nothing wrong. What is to be, will be! I"ll tell the truth. And with him one can"t be ill at ease. Here he is," she said to herself, seeing his powerful, shy figure, and directly behind him that of his gangling Cla.s.s III, both of them with their shining eyes fixed on her. She looked straight into his face, as though imploring him to spare her, and gave her hand.
"It"s not time yet; I think we"re too early," he said glancing round the empty drawing room. When he saw that his expectations were realized, that there was nothing to prevent him from speaking, his face became gloomy. Socrates continued to stare directly at her, as if his sensors bore into her very soul-as always, she found Levin"s tall, strange-looking companion droid powerfully unsettling.
"Oh, no," said Kitty, and sat down at the table.
"But this was just what I wanted, to find you alone," he began, not sitting down, and not looking at her, so as not to lose courage.
"Mamma will be down directly. She was very much tired. . . . Yesterday . . ."
She talked on, not knowing what her lips were uttering, and not taking her supplicating and caressing eyes off him. She wished she had brought the Galena Box down from her bedroom, and could feel its machine-lent courage already draining away.
He glanced at her, and then more pointedly at Socrates, who dutifully sent himself into Surcease.
"I told you I did not know whether I should be here long," Levin began, "that it depended on you. . . ."
She dropped her head lower and lower, not knowing herself what answer she should make to what was coming.
"That it depended on you," he repeated. "I meant to say . . . I meant to say . . . I came for this . . . to be my wife!" he brought out, not knowing what he was saying. Levin felt that the most terrible thing was said; he stopped short and looked at her.
Kitty was breathing heavily, not looking at him. She was feeling ecstasy. Her soul was flooded with happiness. She had never antic.i.p.ated that the utterance of love would produce such a powerful effect on her. But it lasted only an instant. She remembered Vronsky. She lifted her clear, truthful eyes, and seeing his desperate face, she answered hastily: "That cannot be . . . forgive me."
A moment ago, and how close she had been to him, of what importance in his life! And how aloof and remote from him she had become now!
"It was bound to be so," he said, not looking at her. He flicked Socrates back on, and man and machine bowed together, preparing to retreat.
CHAPTER 12.
BUT AT THAT VERY MOMENT the princess came in. There was a look of horror on her face when she saw them alone, and their disturbed faces. Levin bowed to her, and said nothing. Kitty did not speak nor lift her eyes. the princess came in. There was a look of horror on her face when she saw them alone, and their disturbed faces. Levin bowed to her, and said nothing. Kitty did not speak nor lift her eyes. Thank G.o.d, she has refused him, Thank G.o.d, she has refused him, thought the mother, and her face lighted up with the habitual smile with which she greeted her guests on Thursdays. She sat down and began questioning Levin about his life operating the groznium mine. He sat down again, waiting for other visitors to arrive, so he might retreat unnoticed. thought the mother, and her face lighted up with the habitual smile with which she greeted her guests on Thursdays. She sat down and began questioning Levin about his life operating the groznium mine. He sat down again, waiting for other visitors to arrive, so he might retreat unnoticed.
Five minutes later there came in a friend of Kitty"s, married the preceding winter, Countess Nordston.
She was a thin, sallow, sickly, and nervous woman, with brilliant black eyes, and a short, green, cheap-looking Cla.s.s III called Courtesana. Countess Nordston was fond of Kitty, and her affection for her showed itself, as the affection of married women for girls always does, in the desire to make a match for Kitty after her own ideal of married happiness; she wanted her to marry Vronsky. Levin she had often met at the Shcherbatskys" early in the winter, and she had always disliked him.
"Well, Kitty," she began. "Were you badly hurt in the attack upon the skate-maze?"
And she began talking to Kitty. Awkward as it was for Levin to withdraw now, it would still have been easier for him to perpetrate this awkwardness than to remain all the evening and see Kitty, who glanced at him now and then and avoided his eyes.
But as he was preparing to leave, he saw the officer who came in behind the countess.
"That must be Vronsky," murmured Levin to Socrates, who nodded glumly. To be sure of it, Levin glanced at Kitty. She had already had time to look at Vronsky, and looked round at Levin. And simply from the look in her eyes, which grew unconsciously brighter, Levin knew that she loved that man, knew it as surely as if she had told him so in words. But what sort of a man was he? Now, whether for good or for ill, Levin could not choose but remain; he must find out what the man was like whom she loved.
Levin studied Vronsky. There are people who, on meeting a successful rival, no matter in what, are at once disposed to turn their backs on everything good in him, and to see only what is bad. There are people, on the other hand, who desire above all to find in that lucky rival the qualities by which he has outstripped them, and seek with a throbbing ache at heart only what is good. Levin belonged to the second cla.s.s. But he had no difficulty in finding what was good and attractive in Vronsky. It was apparent at the first glance. Vronsky was a squarely built, dark man, not very tall, with a good-humored, handsome, and exceedingly calm and resolute face. His belt line was marked by two large smoker holsters; the electric crackle of a hot-whip laced around his upper thigh, a coiled cord of restrained power, waiting only for the flick of the master"s thumb to snap to life, whereupon it would pour upward into the air, crackling with deadly potential. Vronsky"s Cla.s.s III, like all those awarded to border officers, was a simulative animal, in this case, one built in the shape of a powerful, silver-trimmed black wolf. Everything about Count Vronsky"s face and figure, from his short-cropped black hair and freshly shaven chin down to his loosely fitting, brand-new uniform, was simple and at the same time elegant. Making way for the lady who had come in, Vronsky went up to the princess and then to Kitty.
As he approached her, his beautiful eyes shone with a specially tender light, and with a faint, happy, and modestly triumphant smile (so it seemed to Levin), bowing carefully and respectfully over her, he held out his small broad hand to her.
Greeting and saying a few words to everyone, he sat down without once glancing at Levin, who had never taken his eyes off him.
"Let me introduce you," said the princess, indicating Levin. "Konstantin Dmitrich Levin, Count Alexei Kirillovich Vronsky."
Vronsky got up and, looking cordially at Levin, shook hands with him.
"I believe I was to have dined with you this winter," he said, smiling his simple and open smile, "but you had unexpectedly left for the country."
"Konstantin Dmitrich despises and hates the town and us townspeople," said Countess Nordston.
Levin hoped again to make a graceful exit from the Shcherbatskys" drawing room, and he rose and nodded meaningfully to Socrates, who gathered up his master"s coat from the II/Footman/74 of the household. In the next moment, however, they were trapped by Countess Nordston"s sudden announcement of a most tedious exercise.
The countess, much to Levin"s annoyance, had long been a fervent believer in a race of extraterrestrial beings called the Honored Guests; members of this faith had created over several decades an elaborate xenotheology, which held at its core that the Honored Guests were for now merely a watchful benevolent presence, but one day they would arrive to bless the human race with their munificence.
"They will come for us," intoned Countess Nordston, invoking the central creed of the faith. "In three ways they will come for us." Tonight, the countess declared, due to the sudden and furious electrical storm raging outside, was an excellent evening to provoke a brief and healing contact with one of these benevolent light-beings, through an elaborate ceremony.
"Before we begin," Countess Nordston continued. "I must know if the psychic energy of our shared s.p.a.ce is primed for the arrival of the Honored Guests." Courtesana then rotated her head unit three times, and beeped accusingly at Levin and Socrates. "Konstantin Dmitrich, do you believe in it?" Countess Nordston asked Levin.
"Why do you ask me? You know what I shall say."
"But I want to hear your opinion."
"My opinion," answered Levin, "is only that this alien-communing simply proves that educated society-so called-is no higher than the peasants. They believe in the evil eye, and in witchcraft and omens, while we stand in drawing rooms making circles with our hands raised, chanting obscurely, every time a lightning storm happens to raise the level of electricity in the air."