Before midsummer he was Helena's accepted lover. Not, however,
until then, when her father had given his consent to their marriage
in the autumn, did he disclose his true rank. The old man's face
lighted up with a glow of selfish satisfaction; but Helena quietly
took her lover's hand, and said,--
"Whatever you are, Boris, I will be faithful to you."
VII.
Leaving Boris to discover the exact form and substance of the
passion of love, we will return for a time to the castle of
Kinesma.
Whether the Princess Martha conjectured what had transpired in St.
Petersburg, or was partially informed of it by her son, cannot now
be ascertained. She was sufficiently weak, timid, and nervous, to
be troubled with the knowledge of the stratagem in which she had
assisted in order to procure money, and that the ever-present
consciousness thereof would betray itself to the sharp eyes of
her husband. Certain it is, that the demeanor of the latter
towards her and his household began to change about the end of the
summer. He seemed to have a haunting suspicion, that, in some way
he had been, or was about to be, overreached.
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