Peter the Great's African by Unknown

Author:Unknown
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: New York Review Books
Published: 2022-04-12T00:00:00+00:00

8

The reader, most probably, has already guessed that Kirila Petrovich’s daughter, about whom we have so far said only a few words, is the heroine of our tale. At the time of which we are writing she was seventeen and in the full flower of her beauty. Her father loved her to distraction but treated her in his usual capricious manner, one moment attempting to indulge her every least whim, another moment frightening her with his sternness, and sometimes even cruelty. Confident as he was of her affection, he was unable to win her trust. She had grown used to hiding her thoughts and feelings from him, since she never knew how he would respond. She had no friends and had grown up in solitude. The neighbors’ wives and daughters seldom visited Kirila Petrovich, whose usual conversation and amusements called more for masculine bonhomie than the presence of ladies. Seldom did our young beauty appear among the guests feasting with Kirila Petrovich. The huge library, consisting mainly of the works of French writers of the eighteenth century, had been placed at her disposal. Her father, who never read anything except The Perfect Cook, was unable to guide her in her choice of books, and Masha, after dipping into works of every genre, naturally ended up reading novels. Thus she completed the education begun some time ago by Mam’selle Mimi, a woman whom Kirila Petrovich had trusted and greatly liked and whom he had been obliged to send off discreetly to another of his estates when the consequences of his friendship with her became too apparent. People had fond memories of Mam’selle Mimi. She was a good-hearted girl and—unlike the other mistresses who replaced one another in quick succession—she had never abused her evident influence on Kirila Petrovich. Kirila Petrovich seemed to have loved her more than the others, and a naughty, dark-eyed little nine-year-old boy, whose southern features recalled those of Mam’selle Mimi, was being brought up in the house as his son, even though a great many other little boys, as like Kirila Petrovich as one drop of water to another, ran about barefoot outside his windows and were regarded as serf-children. Kirila Petrovich had ordered a French tutor to be sent down from Moscow for his little Sasha, and this tutor arrived at the time of the events we are now describing.

The tutor’s pleasant appearance and straightforward manner made a favorable impression on Kirila Petrovich. He presented his testimonials, together with a letter from a relative of Troyekurov’s at whose house he had served as a tutor for four years. Kirila Petrovich examined everything and was dissatisfied only with the Frenchman’s youth—not because he thought this likeable shortcoming indicated a lack of the patience and experience so necessary to anyone in the unfortunate role of tutor, but because he had other doubts, which he resolved to voice to the young man at once. To this end he sent for Masha (Kirila Petrovich did not speak French, and she acted as his interpreter).

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