PART II
7. CHAPTER VII.
(continued)
To the amazement of the prince, who overheard the remark, Aglaya
looked haughtily and inquiringly at the questioner, as though she
would give him to know, once for all, that there could be no talk
between them about the 'poor knight,' and that she did not
understand his question.
"But not now! It is too late to send to town for a Pushkin now.
It is much too late, I say!" Colia was exclaiming in a loud
voice. "I have told you so at least a hundred times."
"Yes, it is really much too late to send to town now," said
Evgenie Pavlovitch, who had escaped from Aglaya as rapidly as
possible. "I am sure the shops are shut in Petersburg; it is past
eight o'clock," he added, looking at his watch.
"We have done without him so far," interrupted Adelaida in her
turn. "Surely we can wait until to-morrow."
"Besides," said Colia, "it is quite unusual, almost improper, for
people in our position to take any interest in literature. Ask
Evgenie Pavlovitch if I am not right. It is much more fashionable
to drive a waggonette with red wheels."
"You got that from some magazine, Colia," remarked Adelaida.
"He gets most of his conversation in that way," laughed Evgenie
Pavlovitch. "He borrows whole phrases from the reviews. I have
long had the pleasure of knowing both Nicholai Ardalionovitch and
his conversational methods, but this time he was not repeating
something he had read; he was alluding, no doubt, to my yellow
waggonette, which has, or had, red wheels. But I have exchanged
it, so you are rather behind the times, Colia."
The prince had been listening attentively to Radomski's words,
and thought his manner very pleasant. When Colia chaffed him
about his waggonette he had replied with perfect equality and in
a friendly fashion. This pleased Muishkin.
At this moment Vera came up to Lizabetha Prokofievna, carrying
several large and beautifully bound books, apparently quite new.
"What is it?" demanded the lady.
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