'GEMMA.'
Sanin read this note twice through. Oh, how touchingly sweet and beautiful her handwriting seemed to him! He thought a little, and turning to Emil, who, wishing to give him to understand what a discreet young person he was, was standing with his face to the wall, and scratching on it with his finger-nails, he called him aloud by name.
Emil ran at once to Sanin. 'What do you want me to do?'
'Listen, my young friend...'
'Monsieur Dimitri,' Emil interrupted in a plaintive voice, 'why do you address me so formally?'
Sanin laughed. 'Oh, very well. Listen, my dearest boy--(Emil gave a little skip of delight)--listen; there you understand, there, you will say, that everything shall be done exactly as is wished--(Emil compressed his lips and nodded solemnly)--and as for me ... what are you doing to-morrow, my dear boy?'
'I? what am I doing? What would you like me to do?'
'If you can, come to me early in the morning--and we will walk about the country round Frankfort till evening.... Would you like to?'
Emil gave another little skip. 'I say, what in the world could be jollier? Go a walk with you--why, it's simply glorious! I'll be sure to come!'
'And if they won't let you?'
'They will let me!'
'Listen ... Don't say there that I asked you to come for the whole day.'
'Why should I? But I'll get away all the same! What does it matter?'
Emil warmly kissed Sanin, and ran away.
Sanin walked up and down the room a long while, and went late to bed. He gave himself up to the same delicate and sweet sensations, the same joyous thrill at facing a new life. Sanin was very glad that the idea had occurred to him to invite Emil to spend the next day with him; he was like his sister. 'He will recall her,' was his thought.
But most of all, he marvelled how he could have been yesterday other than he was to-day. It seemed to him that he had loved Gemma for all time; and that he had loved her just as he loved her to-day.