Zara did as I requested. She seated herself upon the divan, and I sat
beside her, with my arm around her. She rested her head against my
shoulder, and in a low and dreamy tone she began, as if there had been
no hiatus, the continuation of that story which was to thrill me as
nothing else of the kind had ever done.
You must understand that she was pleading for my life, as she believed,
in the relation of this bit of history which I was soon to learn had
touched her so closely. She believed that my life could be saved only
by means of my joining with the nihilists, in consenting to take their
oath, and to become one with them. I have often, at retrospective
moments, gone back again to that hour, and lived it over in thought,
wondering how I could still resist her when I listened to the passion
of her utterances, and to a recital of the terrible wrongs that had
been visited upon those whom Zara loved, in the name of the czar.
As before, she told the story as if I had been the participant in it;
as if the young woman whose history it touched most closely, had been
my own sister.
In the retelling of it, I purposely render it as concise as possible,
but I am utterly incapable of imparting to it the dramatic effect of
her recital, heightened and added to by her warm sympathies.
"Remember," she said, "that I am representing you as the brother of
this poor girl, Dubravnik. You, and your sister Yvonne, orphaned in
your youth, occupied together the great palace of your father's, and
were waited upon by an army of servants, many of whom had been in the
employ of your family before either of you were born.
"Among your acquaintances there is another officer, one who is as great
a favorite at court; and within the palace of the emperor, as you are.
He is of good family, handsome, accomplished, and rich. Nevertheless,
you dislike him, principally because he is in love with your sister and
you know that he is, in every way, unworthy of her. She shares the
aversion which you feel for this man, declining all his advances, and
at last refuses to receive him. Beginning with that time, he persecutes
her with his attentions, to the point where you are led to interfere;
but this man has already been to the czar, and has secured his royal
approval of the marriage. He laughs at you when you remonstrate. You
also go to the czar, who listens attentively to all that you have to
say, finally consenting that Yvonne shall not be forced into the
marriage against her will. This officer, when he hears of it, is
furious, and one night, at the club, he publicly insults you, so that
you have no other course than to challenge him. He is a practiced
duelist, and believes that he can kill you easily; thus he would leave
the coast clear for his further machinations. In the affair which
follows, you surprise everybody by wounding your adversary quite
seriously; and during a few months that succeed the duel, you are
relieved of further anxiety concerning the matter. But he recovers; he
returns to his former position at the palace; and misjudging his power
and influence, insults you again, almost in the presence of the
emperor. For that, he is banished from the palace, and degraded in the
army; and quite naturally he attributes his misfortunes to you, upon
whom he vows vengeance. You hear of his threats, but laugh at them--and
forget them. He does not.