your knees and beg him to come, confess!"

"No, he didn't, for I saw it all myself," said Colia. "On the contrary,
Hippolyte kissed his hand twice and thanked him; and all the prince said
was that he thought Hippolyte might feel better here in the country!"

"Don't, Colia,--what is the use of saying all that?" cried the prince,
rising and taking his hat.

"Where are you going to now?" cried Mrs. Epanchin.

"Never mind about him now, prince," said Colia. "He is all right and
taking a nap after the journey. He is very happy to be here; but I think
perhaps it would be better if you let him alone for today,--he is very
sensitive now that he is so ill--and he might be embarrassed if you show
him too much attention at first. He is decidedly better today, and says
he has not felt so well for the last six months, and has coughed much
less, too."

The prince observed that Aglaya came out of her corner and approached
the table at this point.

He did not dare look at her, but he was conscious, to the very tips of
his fingers, that she was gazing at him, perhaps angrily; and that she
had probably flushed up with a look of fiery indignation in her black
eyes.

"It seems to me, Mr. Colia, that you were very foolish to bring your
young friend down--if he is the same consumptive boy who wept so
profusely, and invited us all to his own funeral," remarked Evgenie
Pavlovitch. "He talked so eloquently about the blank wall outside his
bedroom window, that I'm sure he will never support life here without
it."

"I think so too," said Mrs. Epanchin; "he will quarrel with you, and be
off," and she drew her workbox towards her with an air of dignity, quite
oblivious of the fact that the family was about to start for a walk in
the park.

"Yes, I remember he boasted about the blank wall in an extraordinary
way," continued Evgenie, "and I feel that without that blank wall
he will never be able to die eloquently; and he does so long to die
eloquently!"

"Oh, you must forgive him the blank wall," said the prince, quietly. "He
has come down to see a few trees now, poor fellow."

"Oh, I forgive him with all my heart; you may tell him so if you like,"
laughed Evgenie.

"I don't think you should take it quite like that," said the prince,
quietly, and without removing his eyes from the carpet. "I think it is
more a case of his forgiving you."

"Forgiving me! why so? What have I done to need his forgiveness?"

"If you don't understand,