But his excitement passed at once. The marechal do noblesse, of

the district in which his largest estate lay, wrote only to let

Nekhludoff know that there was to be a special meeting towards

the end of May, and that Nekhludoff was to be sure and come to

"_donner un coup d'epaule_," at the important debates concerning

the schools and the roads, as a strong opposition by the

reactionary party was expected.

The marechal was a liberal, and was quite engrossed in this

fight, not even noticing the misfortune that had befallen him.

Nekhludoff remembered the dreadful moments he had lived through;

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once when he thought that the husband had found him out and was

going to challenge him, and he was making up his mind to fire

into the air; also the terrible scene he had with her when she

ran out into the park, and in her excitement tried to drown

herself in the pond.

"Well, I cannot go now, and can do nothing until I get a reply

from her," thought Nekhludoff. A week ago he had written her a

decisive letter, in which he acknowledged his guilt, and his

readiness to atone for it; but at the same time he pronounced

their relations to be at an end, for her own good, as he

expressed it. To this letter he had as yet received no answer.

This might prove a good sign, for if she did not agree to break

off their relations, she would have written at once, or even come

herself, as she had done before. Nekhludoff had heard that there

was some officer who was paying her marked attention, and this

tormented him by awakening jealousy, and at the same time

encouraged him with the hope of escape from the deception that

was oppressing him.

The other letter was from his steward. The steward wrote to tell

him that a visit to his estates was necessary in order to enter

into possession, and also to decide about the further management

of his lands; whether it was to continue in the same way as when

his mother was alive, or whether, as he had represented to the

late lamented princess, and now advised the young prince, they

had not better increase their stock and farm all the land now

rented by the peasants themselves. The steward wrote that this

would be a far more profitable way of managing the property; at

the same time, he apologised for not having forwarded the 3,000

roubles income due on the 1st. This money would be sent on by the

next mail. The reason for the delay was that he could not get the

money out of the peasants, who had grown so untrustworthy that he

had to appeal to the authorities. This letter was partly

disagreeable, and partly pleasant. It was pleasant to feel that

he had power over so large a property, and yet disagreeable,

because Nekhludoff had been an enthusiastic admirer of Henry

George and Herbert Spencer. Being himself heir to a large

property, he was especially struck by the position taken up by

Spencer in Social Statics, that justice forbids private

landholding, and with the straightforward resoluteness of his

age, had not merely spoken to prove that land could not be looked

upon as private property, and written essays on that subject at

the university, but had acted up to his convictions, and,

considering it wrong to hold landed property, had given the small

piece of land he had inherited from his father to the peasants.

Inheriting his mother's large estates, and thus becoming a landed

proprietor, he had to choose one of two things: either to give up

his property, as he had given up his father's land ten years

before, or silently to confess that all his former ideas were

mistaken and false.




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