The Doll - Bolesaw Prus [139]
‘And, cousin, pray dissuade him from fighting duels,’ the Prince concluded. ‘It is quite unnecessary—all very well for young men, but not for serious and respectable citizens.’
Tomasz was delighted, particularly when he thought that all these agreeable ovations were greeting him on the eve of selling the apartment-house; a year ago, the proximity of such an event would have frightened people away…
‘I am beginning to regain my proper position in the world,’ Tomasz murmured, and suddenly looked up. It seemed to him that Wokulski was standing before him. So, to calm himself, he repeated several times: ‘I will reward him, indeed I will…He can be sure of my support.’
On the third day after Wokulski’s duel, Izabela received a costly box and a letter which startled her. She recognised the Baron’s hand:
Dear cousin, If you will forgive my unfortunate marriage, I in return will forgive your references to my wife, who has already teased the life out of me. As a material symbol of eternal peace between us I am sending you the tooth which Wokulski shot because of what—I think—I ventured to say to you at the races. I assure you, my dear cousin, that it is the very same tooth with which I have in the past bitten you, and that I will no longer bite. You can throw it away, but pray keep the box as a souvenir. Accept this trifle from a man who is rather ill today, and is not, believe me, a bad man, and I hope you will at some time be able to forget my clumsy malice, Your affectionate and respectful cousin, Krzeszowski.
P.S. If you do not throw my tooth away, pray send it back to me, so I can present it to my neglected spouse. She will have something to think about for a few days, which the doctors are supposed to have recommended to the poor soul. Your Mr Wokulski is a very agreeable and distinguished man, and I admit I have grown sincerely fond of him, though he did me such an injury.
Inside the costly box was a tooth, wrapped in tissue. After some thought, Izabela wrote the Baron a very affable letter, declaring she was no longer cross and acknowledging the box, while she was sending back the tooth, with all due respect, to its owner.
She could no longer doubt it was only thanks to Wokulski that the Baron had come to terms with her and asked her pardon. Izabela was not a little moved by her triumph, and felt something not unlike gratitude toward Wokulski. She shut herself up in her boudoir and began day-dreaming.
She dreamed that Wokulski sold his store and bought a landed estate, but remained director of the trading partnership, which brought in vast profits. All the aristocracy received him in their homes while she, Izabela, made him her right-hand man. He restored their fortune and brought it back to its former splendour; he executed all her orders; he took risks when necessary. Finally he found her a husband, suitable to the eminence of the Łęcki family.
He did all these things because he loved her with an ideal love, more than his own life. And he was completely happy if she smiled at him, looked at him kindly, or if—after some exceptional service—pressed his hand sincerely. If the good Lord were to give them children, then he would find nursemaids and governesses, would increase their fortune and finally, when she herself died (at this point tears came to Izabela’s beautiful eyes), he would shoot himself at her tomb…Or no—the delicate feelings she had developed in him would make him shoot himself a few tombs away.
The entrance of her father interrupted the course of her fantasies. ‘So Krzeszowski has written to you?’ Tomasz asked with curiosity. His daughter showed him the letter on her bureau, and the golden box. Mr Tomasz shook his head as he read, and finally