Inventing Wonders

Chapter 14: Not Vulgar Enough

To say that time began to fly by with relentless speed is an understatement. At some point, Lara felt as though she had been thrust into a hastily written, double-speed television series. Suddenly, the countess found herself lacking time: new mutual relations, in which Nikolai Pavlovich allowed her closer, wrote tender letters, and sought to see her even for a moment, were replaced by days of silence, when it seemed that the engineer had completely forgotten about his beloved as if she were a fleeting infatuation. This drove Lara insane; she couldn't fathom why Nikolai wouldn't give her his address or reveal himself. It seemed to Lara that he knew everything about her, while she, on the contrary, knew nothing about him.

Lara, practically a certified journalist, tried to make inquiries, asking friends if they knew of a young nobleman fitting the description who worked as an engineer. But Nikolai Pavlovich was like the local Batman; no one could grasp who was behind the mask of the engineer. However, it cannot be said that Lara searched diligently: she was terribly afraid that her beloved might turn out to be married. She, of course, held progressive views, didn't attach much importance to religion, but something about the wedding ceremony made her uneasy, evoking a vague sense of foreboding.

Returning to the topic of quickly changing days, Larisa Konstantinovna was constantly nervous, couldn't sleep peacefully, appeared more often as a guest, spent more money, and delved deeper into her work. Philosophy, thoughts of freedom, and duty began to penetrate her initially purely romantic novel, causing a wave of discontent. Men were the first to express displeasure, believing that previously safe ladies' reading material was now corrupting their wives' charming heads with audacity. Maksim Konstantinovich's mail was filled with hate and dislikes. For some reason, Lara felt it her duty to read and respond to all such correspondence. This took an incredible amount of time.

And then, on the second day of the countess's sleeplessness, a rare occurrence happened — she was visited by Ekaterina Ivanovna Trubetskaya. Despite the fact that the girls had long called each other good friends, they met in Larisa Konstantinovna's living room criminally rarely. Ekaterina Ivanovna flinched when a woman's scream and the sound of breaking glass echoed from somewhere on the second floor.

"Reviews of the new chapter of the novel have arrived, Larisa Konstantinovna has taken to reading all of them," Anna Matveevna smiled, escorting the lady into the room.

"Does Larisa Konstantinovna take the opinions about her brother's works so much to heart?" Ekaterina Ivanovna shook her head.

"She cares for them as if they were her own."

After a quarter of an hour, Larisa Konstantinovna, hastily dressed, came downstairs. Ekaterina Ivanovna was struck by her friend's fatigue. Trubetskaya even suspected some hidden illness but said aloud only:

"Lara, my dear, you look so pale today... Can you come with me to the church?"

"Oh, don't worry about it, Katasha. My brother's absence in the city has forced me to take on a bit more responsibility than I'd like," Lara stretched. "Let's go. It's not proper to be late to such places," she spoke quickly, curtly, and surprisingly dryly, which was not typical for the usually cheerful countess.

Sitting in the carriage, Ekaterina Ivanovna dared to ask:

"Lara, forgive me, but it's offensive that you don't trust me. What's wrong?" Lara gave her a clouded look, and then the princess added, "Lara! Don't you dare lie, Maksim Konstantinovich is often away from the capital for months; I will never believe that this time is any different."

Lara sighed again: why start another conversation about the dubious quality of her relationship with Nikolai? As if nothing else happened in her life besides this engineer!