Demons - nouveau livre

THE POSSESSED - VOLUME TWO - FYODOR DOSTOEVSKY - CONTENTS - PART 11-continued CHAP. PAGE VI. PYOTRS TEPANOVITCH IS BUSY . . . . I VII. A MEETING . . . . . . . 42 VIII. IVAN THE TSAREVITCH . . . . . 65 IX. A RAID AT STEPAN TROFIMOVITCIIS . . 75 PART I11 I. THE FI TE-FIRST PART . . . . 11. THE END OF THE F T E . . 111. A ROMANCEN DED . . IV. THE LAST RESOLUTION . V. A WANDERER . . VI. A BUSY NIGHT . VII. STEPANT ROFIMOVITCLHASS TW ANDERING VIII. CONCLUSION . . . . . . vii PART 11-conthued CHAPTER V1 PYOTR STEPANOVITCH IS BUSY THE date of the fCte was definitely fixed, and Von Lembke became more and more depressed. He was fuU of strange and sinister forebodings, and this made Yulia Mihailovna seriously uneasy. Indeed, things were not altogether satisfactory. Our mild governor had left the affairs of the province a little out of gear at the moment we were threatened with cholera serious outbreaks of cattle plague had appeared in several places fires were prevalent that summer in towns and villages whilst among the peasantry foolish rumours of incendiarism grew stronger and stronger. Cases of robbery were twice as numerous as usual. But all this, of course, would have been perfectly ordinary had there been no other and more weighty reasons to disturb the equanimity of Andrey Antonovitch, who had till then been in good spirits. What struck Yulia Mihailovna most of all was that he became more silent and, strange to say, more secretive every day. Yet it was hard to imagine what he had to hide. It is true that he rarely opposed her and as a rule followed her lead without question. At her instigation, for instance, two or three regulations of a risky and hardly legal character were introducedwith the object of strengthening the authority of the governor. There were several ominous instances of transgressions being condoned with the same end in view persons who deserved to be sent to prison and Siberia were, solely because she insisted, recommended for promotion. Certain complaints and inquiries were deliberately and systematically ignored. All this came out later on. Not only did Lembke sign everything, but he did not even go into the question of the share taken by his wife in the execution of his duties. On the other hand, he began at times to be restive about the most trifling matters, to the surprise of YuIia Mihailovna. No doubt he felt the need to make up for the days of suppression by brief moments of mutiny. Unluckily, Yulia Mihailovna was unable, for all her insight, to understand this honourable punctiliousness in an honourable character. Alas, she had no thought to spare for that, and that was the source of many misunderstandings. There are some things of which it is not suitable for me to write, and indeed I am not in a position to do so. It is not my business to discuss the blunders of administration either, and I prefer to leave out this administrative aspect of the subject altogether. In the chronicle I have begun Ive set before myself a different task. Moreover, a great deal will be brought to light by the Commission of Inquiry which has just been appointed for our province its only a matter of waiting a little. Certain explanations, however, cannot be omitted. But to return to Yulia Mihailovna. The poor lady I feel very sorry for her might have attained all that attracted and allured her renown and so on without any such violent and eccentric actions as sheresolved upon at the very first step...