s. He had not even remembered to say goodbye, and
Lebedeff was the more surprised at the omission, as he knew by
experience how courteous the prince usually was.

III

It was now close on twelve o'clock.

The prince knew that if he called at the Epanchins' now he would only
find the general, and that the latter might probably carry him straight
off to Pavlofsk with him; whereas there was one visit he was most
anxious to make without delay.

So at the risk of missing General Epanchin altogether, and thus
postponing his visit to Pavlofsk for a day, at least, the prince decided
to go and look for the house he desired to find.

The visit he was about to pay was, in some respects, a risky one. He was
in two minds about it, but knowing that the house was in the Gorohovaya,
not far from the Sadovaya, he determined to go in that direction, and to
try to make up his mind on the way.

Arrived at the point where the Gorohovaya crosses the Sadovaya, he was
surprised to find how excessively agitated he was. He had no idea that
his heart could beat so painfully.

One house in the Gorohovaya began to attract his attention long before
he reached it, and the prince remembered afterwards that he had said
to himself: "That is the house, I'm sure of it." He came up to it quite
curious to discover whether he had guessed right, and felt that he would
be disagreeably impressed to find that he had actually done so. The
house was a large gloomy-looking structure, without the slightest claim
to architectural beauty, in colour a dirty green. There are a few of
these old houses, built towards the end of the last century, still
standing in that part of St. Petersburg, and showing little change
from their original form and colour. They are solidly built, and are
remarkable for the thickness of their walls, and for the fewness
of their windows, many of which are covered by gratings. On the
ground-floor there is usually a money-changer's shop, and the owner
lives over it. Without as well as within, the houses seem inhospitable
and mysterious--an impression which is difficult to explain, unless it
has something to do with the actual architectural style. These houses
are almost exclusively inhabited by the merchant class.

Arrived at the gate, the prince looked up at the legend over it, which
ran:

"House of Rogojin, hereditary and honourable citizen."

He hesitated no longer; but opened the glazed door at the bottom of the
outer stairs and