The jailer who had brought Maslova in sat on a windowsill at some
distance from them.
The decisive moment had come for Nekhludoff. He had been
incessantly blaming himself for not having told her the principal
thing at the first interview, and was now determined to tell her
that he would marry her. She was sitting at the further side of
the table. Nekhludoff sat down opposite her. It was light in the
room, and Nekhludoff for the first time saw her face quite near.
He distinctly saw the crowsfeet round her eyes, the wrinkles
round her mouth, and the swollen eyelids. He felt more sorry than
before. Leaning over the table so as not to be heard by the
jailer--a man of Jewish type with grizzly whiskers, who sat by
the window--Nekhludoff said: "Should this petition come to nothing we shall appeal to the
Emperor. All that is possible shall be done."
"There, now, if we had had a proper advocate from the first," she
interrupted. "My defendant was quite a silly. He did nothing but
pay me compliments," she said, and laughed. "If it had then been
known that I was acquainted with you, it would have been another
matter. They think every one's a thief."
"How strange she is to-day," Nekhludoff thought, and was just
going to say what he had on his mind when she began again: "There's something I want to say. We have here an old woman; such
a fine one, d'you know, she just surprises every one; she is
imprisoned for nothing, and her son, too, and everybody knows
they are innocent, though they are accused of having set fire to
a house. D'you know, hearing I was acquainted with you, she says:
'Tell him to ask to see my son; he'll tell him all about it."'
Thus spoke Maslova, turning her head from side to side, and
glancing at Nekhludoff. "Their name's Menshoff. Well, will you do
it? Such a fine old thing, you know; you can see at once she's
innocent. You'll do it, there's a dear," and she smiled, glanced
up at him, and then cast down her eyes.
"All right. I'll find out about them," Nekhludoff said, more and
more astonished by her free-and-easy manner. "But I was going to
speak to you about myself. Do you remember what I told you last
time?"
"You said a lot last time. What was it you told me?" she said,
continuing to smile and to turn her head from side to side.
"I said I had come to ask you to forgive me," he began.
"What's the use of that? Forgive, forgive, where's the good of--"
"To atone for my sin, not by mere words, but in deed. I have made
up my mind to marry you."
An expression of fear suddenly came over her face. Her squinting
eyes remained fixed on him, and yet seemed not to be looking at
him.