entiment of her approaching death,
had intrusted one of the ladies in attendance upon her with the secret
of her son's marriage, and such presents of money and jewelry as she was
able to procure without her husband's knowledge. These presents reached
Boris very opportunely; for, although Helena developed a wonderful skill
in regulating his expenses, the spring was approaching, and even the
limited circle of society in which they had moved during the gay season
had made heavy demands upon his purse. He became restless and
abstracted, until his wife, who by this time clearly comprehended the
nature of his trouble, had secretly decided how it must be met.

The slender hoard of the old music-master, with a few thousand rubles
from Prince Boris, sufficed for his modest maintenance. Being now free
from the charge of his daughter, he determined to visit Germany, and, if
circumstances were propitious, to secure a refuge for his old age in his
favorite Leipsic. Summer was at hand, and the court had already removed
to Oranienbaum. In a few weeks the capital would be deserted.

"Shall we go to Germany with your father?" asked Boris, as he sat at a
window with Helena, enjoying the long twilight.

"No, my Boris," she answered; "we will go to Kinesma."

"But--Helena,--_golubchik_,--_mon ange_,--are you in earnest?"

"Yes, my Boris. The last letter from your--our cousin Nadejda convinces
me that the step must be taken. Prince Alexis has grown much older since
your mother's death; he is lonely and unhappy. He may not welcome us,
but long he will surely suffer us to come to him; and we must then begin
the work of reconciliation. Reflect, my Boris, you have keenly wounded
him in the tenderest part,--his pride,--and you must therefore cast away
your own pride, and humbly and respectfully, as becomes a son, solicit
his pardon."

"Yes," said he, hesitatingly, "you are right. But I know his violence
and recklessness, as you do not. For myself, alone, I am willing to meet
him; yet I fear for your sake. Would you not tremble to encounter a
maddened and brutal _mujik_?--then how much more to meet Alexis
Pavlovitch of Kinesma!"

"I do not and shall not tremble," she replied. "It is not your marriage
that has estranged your father, but your marriage with _me_. Having
been, unconsciously, the cause of the trouble, I shall deliberately, and
as a sacred duty, attempt to remove it. Let us go to Kinesma, as humble,
penitent children, and cast o