nt away, after having
procured the address in Kazan.

Agitation, surprise, expectation had been depicted on his face when he
went to Kupfer.... Now he advanced with an even gait, downcast eyes, and
hat pulled low down over his brows; almost every one he met followed him
with a searching gaze ... but he paid no heed to the passers-by ... it
was quite different from what it had been on the boulevard!...

"Unhappy Clara! Foolish Clara!" resounded in his soul.

X

Nevertheless, Aratoff passed the following day in a fairly tranquil
manner. He was even able to devote himself to his customary occupations.
There was only one thing: both during his busy time and in his leisure
moments he thought incessantly of Clara, of what Kupfer had told him the
day before. Truth to tell, his thoughts were also of a decidedly pacific
nature. It seemed to him that that strange young girl interested him
from a psychological point of view, as something in the nature of a
puzzle, over whose solution it was worth while to cudgel one's
brains,--"She ran away from home with a kept actress," he thought, "she
placed herself under the protection of that Princess, in whose house she
lived,--and had no love-affairs? It is improbable!... Kupfer says it was
pride! But, in the first place, we know" (Aratoff should have said: "we
have read in books") ... "that pride is compatible with light-minded
conduct; and in the second place, did not she, such a proud person,
appoint a meeting with a man who might show her scorn ... and appoint it
in a public place, into the bargain ... on the boulevard!"--At this
point there recurred to Aratoff's mind the whole scene on the boulevard,
and he asked himself: "Had he really shown scorn for Clara?"--"No," he
decided.... That was another feeling ... a feeling of perplexity ... of
distrust, in short!--"Unhappy Clara!" again rang through his
brain.--"Yes, she was unhappy," he decided again ... that was the most
fitting word.

"But if that is so, I was unjust. She spoke truly when she said that I
did not understand her. 'Tis a pity!--It may be that a very remarkable
being has passed so close to me ... and I did not take advantage of the
opportunity, but repulsed her.... Well, never mind! My life is still
before me. I shall probably have other encounters of a different sort!

"But what prompted her to pick out _me_ in particular?"--He cast a
glance at a mirror which he was passing at the moment. "What is there
pe