willing to meet him; yet I fear for your sake. Would you not
tremble to encounter a maddened and brutal mujik?--then how much
more to meet Alexis Pavlovitch of Kinesma!"

"I do not and shall not tremble," she replied. "It is not your
marriage that has estranged your father, but your marriage with
ME. Having been, unconsciously, the cause of the trouble, I
shall deliberately, and as a sacred duty, attempt to remove it.
Let us go to Kinesma, as humble, penitent children, and cast
ourselves upon your father's mercy. At the worst, he can but
reject us; and you will have given me the consolation of knowing
that I have tried, as your wife, to annul the sacrifice you have
made for my sake."

"Be it so, then!" cried Boris, with a mingled feeling of relief and
anxiety.

He was not unwilling that the attempt should be made, especially
since it was his wife's desire; but he knew his father too well to
anticipate immediate success. All threatening POSSIBILITIES
suggested themselves to his mind; all forms of insult and outrage
which he had seen perpetrated at Kinesma filled his memory. The
suspense became at last worse than any probable reality. He wrote
to his father, announcing a speedy visit from himself and his wife;
and two days afterwards the pair left St. Petersburg in a large
travelling kibitka.



X.