province of S., about five miles from the town of that name. I
should like you to come to us for the vacation to teach my boy
Russian history and grammar. I think those were the subjects you
mentioned in your advertisement. I think you will get on with us
all right, and I am sure you will like the neighbourhood. We have
a large house and garden, the air is excellent, and there is a
river close by. Well, would you like to come? We shall only have
to come to terms, although I do not think," he added, with a
slight grimace, "that there will be any difficulty on that point
between us."

Nejdanov watched Sipiagin all the time he was speaking. He gazed
at his small head, bent a little to one side, his low, narrow,
but intelligent forehead, his fine Roman nose, pleasant eyes,
straight lips, out of which his words flowed graciously; he gazed
at his drooping whiskers, kept in the English fashion, gazed and
wondered. "What does it all mean?" he asked himself. "Why has
this man come to seek me out? This aristocrat and I! What have we
in common? What does he see in me?"

He was so lost in thought that he did not open his lips when
Sipiagin, having finished speaking, evidently awaited an answer.
Sipiagin cast a look into the corner where Paklin sat, also
watching him. "Perhaps the presence of a third person prevents
him from saying what he would like," flashed across Sipiagin's
mind. He raised his eyebrows, as if in submission to the
strangeness of the surroundings he had come to of his own accord,
and repeated his question a second time.

Nejdanov started.