Miss Haldin wished to go through a course of
reading the best English authors with a competent teacher.
Mrs. Haldin received me very kindly. Her bad French, of which she was
smilingly conscious, did away with the formality of the first interview.
She was a tall woman in a black silk dress. A wide brow, regular
features, and delicately cut lips, testified to her past beauty. She sat
upright in an easy chair and in a rather weak, gentle voice told me that
her Natalka simply thirsted after knowledge. Her thin hands were lying
on her lap, her facial immobility had in it something monachal. "In
Russia," she went on, "all knowledge was tainted with falsehood. Not
chemistry and all that, but education generally," she explained.
The Government corrupted the teaching for its own purposes. Both her
children felt that. Her Natalka had obtained a diploma of a Superior
School for Women and her son was a student at the St. Petersburg
University. He had a brilliant intellect, a most noble unselfish nature,
and he was the oracle of his comrades. Early next year, she hoped he
would join them and they would then go to Italy together. In any other
country but their own she would have been certain of a great future for
a man with the extraordinary abilities and the lofty character of her
son--but in Russia.
Pages:
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136