nd she will never know how devotedly he loves her! Ha, ha, ha!
How does the fellow manage to love two of them? Two different kinds of
love, I suppose! This is very interesting--poor idiot! What on earth
will become of him now?"

X.

THE prince did not die before his wedding--either by day or night, as
he had foretold that he might. Very probably he passed disturbed nights,
and was afflicted with bad dreams; but, during the daytime, among his
fellow-men, he seemed as kind as ever, and even contented; only a little
thoughtful when alone.

The wedding was hurried on. The day was fixed for exactly a week after
Evgenie's visit to the prince. In the face of such haste as this,
even the prince's best friends (if he had had any) would have felt the
hopelessness of any attempt to save "the poor madman." Rumour said that
in the visit of Evgenie Pavlovitch was to be discerned the influence of
Lizabetha Prokofievna and her husband... But if those good souls, in
the boundless kindness of their hearts, were desirous of saving the
eccentric young fellow from ruin, they were unable to take any stronger
measures to attain that end. Neither their position, nor their private
inclination, perhaps (and only naturally), would allow them to use any
more pronounced means.

We have observed before that even some of the prince's nearest
neighbours had begun to oppose him. Vera Lebedeff's passive disagreement
was limited to the shedding of a few solitary tears; to more frequent
sitting alone at home, and to a diminished frequency in her visits to
the prince's apartments.

Colia was occupied with his father at this time. The old man died during
a second stroke, which took place just eight days after the first. The
prince showed great sympathy in the grief of the family, and during the
first days of their mourning he was at the house a great deal with Nina
Alexandrovna. He went to the funeral, and it was observable that the
public assembled in church greeted his arrival and departure with
whisperings, and watched him closely.

The same thing happened in the park and in the street, wherever he went.
He was pointed out when he drove by, and he often overheard the name of
Nastasia Philipovna coupled with his own as he passed. People looked
out for her at the funeral, too, but she was not there; and another
conspicuous absentee was the captain's widow, whom Lebedeff had
prevented from coming.

The funeral service produced a great effect on the