I confess I was angry with the broken-hearted old woman passing away in
the obstinacy of her mute distrust of her daughter.
When it was all over I stood aside. Miss Haldin had her compatriots
round her then. A great number of them attended the funeral. I was
there too, but afterwards managed to keep away from Miss Haldin, till I
received a short note rewarding my self-denial. "It is as you would have
it. I am going back to Russia at once. My mind is made up. Come and see
me."
Verily, it was a reward of discretion. I went without delay to receive
it. The _appartement_ of the Boulevard des Philosophes presented the
dreary signs of impending abandonment. It looked desolate and as if
already empty to my eyes.
Standing, we exchanged a few words about her health, mine, remarks as to
some people of the Russian colony, and then Natalia Haldin, establishing
me on the sofa, began to talk openly of her future work, of her plans.
It was all to be as I had wished it. And it was to be for life. We
should never see each other again. Never!
I gathered this success to my breast. Natalia Haldin looked matured by
her open and secret experiences. With her arms folded she walked up and
down the whole length of the room, talking slowly, smooth-browed, with a
resolute profile. She gave me a new view of herself, and I marvelled at
that something grave and measured in her voice, in her movements, in her
manner.
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