"The only ones?" Serpuhovskoy queried, smiling.
"Yes; and I heard news of you, but not only through your wife,"
said Vronsky, checking his hint by a stern expression of face.
"I was greatly delighted to hear of your success, but not a bit
surprised. I expected even more."
Serpuhovskoy smiled. Such an opinion of him was obviously
agreeable to him, and he did not think it necessary to conceal
it.
"Well, I on the contrary expected less--I'll own frankly. But
I'm glad, very glad. I'm ambitious; that's my weakness, and I
confess to it."
"Perhaps you wouldn't confess to it if you hadn't been
successful," said Vronsky.
"I don't suppose so," said Serpuhovskoy, smiling again. "I
won't say life wouldn't be worth living without it, but it would
be dull. Of course I may be mistaken, but I fancy I have a
certain capacity for the line I've chosen, and that power of any
sort in my hands, if it is to be, will be better than in the
hands of a good many people I know," said Serpuhovskoy, with
beaming consciousness of success; "and so the nearer I get to it,
the better pleased I am."
"Perhaps that is true for you, but not for everyone. I used to
think so too, but here I live and think life worth living not
only for that."
"There it's out! here it comes!" said Serpuhovskoy, laughing.
"Ever since I heard about you, about your refusal, I began....
Of course, I approved of what you did. But there are ways of
doing everything. And I think your action was good in itself,
but you didn't do it quite in the way you ought to have done."
"What's done can't be undone, and you know I never go back on
what I've done. And besides, I'm very well off."
"Very well off--for the time. But you're not satisfied with
that. I wouldn't say this to your brother. He's a nice child,
like our host here. There he goes!" he added, listening to the
roar of "hurrah!"--"and he's happy, but that does not satisfy
you."
"I didn't say it did satisfy me."
"Yes, but that's not the only thing. Such men as you are
wanted."
"By whom?"
"By whom? By society, by Russia. Russia needs men; she needs a
party, or else everything goes and will go to the dogs."
"How do you mean? Bertenev's party against the Russian
communists?"