And Tamara's interest in him, in spite of her shocked contempt, did not
decrease.
And so the time went on.
She was gradually growing to know the society better, and to get a peep
at the national point of view. They were a wonderfully uncomplex
people, with the perfect ease which only those at the bottom of the
social ladder who have not started to climb at all, and those who have
reached the top, like these, can have. They were casually friendly when
the strangers pleased them, and completely unimpressed with their
intrinsic worth if they did not. They seemed to see in a moment the
shades in people, and only to select the best. And when Tamara came to
talk seriously with even the most apparently frivolous, she found they
all had the same trace of vague melancholy and mystery, as though they
were grasping in the dark for something spiritual they wished to seize.
Their views and boundaries of principles in action seemed to be
limitless, just as their vast country seems to have no landmarks for
miles. One could imagine the unexpected happening in any of their
lives. And the charm and fascination of them continued to increase.
It was late one afternoon when Prince Milaslávski again came
prominently into view on Tamara's horizon.
She was sitting alone reading in the blue salon when he walked
unceremoniously in.
"Give me some tea, Madame," he said. "The Princess met me in the hall,
and told me I should find you here; so now let us begin by this."
Tamara poured it out and leaned back in the sofa below the beautiful
Falconet group, which made--and makes--the glory of the blue salon in
the Ardácheff House. She felt serene. These two weeks of unawakened
emotions and just pleasant entertainments since the day at Tsarsköi had
given her fresh poise.
"And what do you think of us by now, Madame?" he asked.
"I think you are a strange band," she said. "You are extremely
intellectual, you are brilliant, and yet in five minutes all
intelligence can fade out of your faces, and all interest from your
talks, and you fly to bridge."
"It is because we are primitive and unspoilt; this is our new toy, and
we must play with it; the excitement will wane, and a fresh one
come----" he paused and then went on in another tone-"You in England have many outlets for your supervitality--you cannot
judge of other nations who have not. You had a magnificent system of
government. It took you about eight hundred years to build up, and it
was the admiration of the world--and now you are allowing your
Socialists and ignorant plebeian place hunters to pull it all to pieces
and throw it away. That is more foolish surely, than even to go crazy
over bridge!"