te had ordered it otherwise, for the
elder son had inherited the bulk of his father's fortune, and was,
consequently, able to bear the expenses of a career in a guard regiment;
while Paul, the younger, just managed to live comfortably the life of a
fashionable diplomacy, by dint of economy and an intelligent use of his
small income.

They were Russians, but their mother was an Englishwoman. Their father
had married a Miss Anne Dabstreak, with whom he had fallen in love when
in London, shortly before the Crimean War. She was a beautiful woman,
and had a moderate portion. Old Patoff's fortune, however, was
sufficient, and they had lived happily for ten years, when he had died
very suddenly, leaving a comfortable provision for his wife, and the
chief part of his possessions to Alexander Paolovitch Patoff, his eldest
boy. Paul, he thought, showed even as a child the character necessary to
fight his own way; and as he had since advanced regularly in the
diplomacy, it seemed probable that he would fulfill his father's
predictions, and die an embassador.

At the time when this story opens Madame Patoff was traveling in
Switzerland for her health. She was not strong, and dared not undertake
a journey to Constantinople at present. On the other hand, the climate
of northern Russia suited her even less well in summer than in winter,
and, to her great regret, her son Alexander, whom she loved better than
Paul, as he was also more like herself, had persisted in spending his
leave in a visit to his brother.

Madame Patoff had been surprised at Alexander's determination. Her sons
were not congenial to each other. They had been brought up differently
to different careers, which might partially account for the lack of
sympathy between them, but in reality the evil had a deeper root. Madame
Patoff had either never realized that Alexander had been the favored
son, and that Paul had suffered acutely from the preference shown to his
elder brother, or she had loved the latter too passionately to care to
hide her preference. Alexander had been a beautiful child, full of
grace, and gifted with that charm which in young children is not easily
resisted. Paul was ugly in his boyhood, cold and reserved, rarely
showing sympathy, and too proud to ask for what was not given him
freely. Alexander was quick-witted, talented, and showy, if I may use so
barbarous a word. Paul was slow at first, ungainly as a young foal,
strong without grace, shy of at