is always a bad sign. But nothing was to be seen yet of the Lembkes.
Silks, velvets, diamonds glowed and sparkled on every side; whiffs of
fragrance filled the air. The men were wearing all their decorations,
and the old men were even in uniform. At last the marshal's wife came in
with Liza. Liza had never been so dazzlingly charming or so splendidly
dressed as that morning. Her hair was done up in curls, her eyes
sparkled, a smile beamed on her face. She made an unmistakable
sensation: people scrutinised her and whispered about her. They said
that she was looking for Stavrogin, but neither Stavrogin nor Varvara
Petrovna were there. At the time I did not understand the expression
of her face: why was there so much happiness, such joy, such energy and
strength in that face? I remembered what had happened the day before and
could not make it out.

But still the Lembkes did not come. This was distinctly a blunder. I
learned that Yulia Mihailovna waited till the last minute for Pyotr
Stepanovitch, without whom she could not stir a step, though she never
admitted it to herself. I must mention, in parenthesis, that on the
previous day Pyotr Stepanovitch had at the last meeting of the committee
declined to wear the rosette of a steward, which had disappointed her
dreadfully, even to the point of tears. To her surprise and, later on,
her extreme discomfiture (to anticipate things) he vanished for the
whole morning and did not make his appearance at the literary matinee at
all, so that no one met him till evening. At last the audience began
to manifest unmistakable signs of impatience. No one appeared on the
platform either. The back rows began applauding, as in a theatre. The
elderly gentlemen and the ladies frowned. "The Lembkes are really giving
themselves unbearable airs." Even among the better part of the audience
an absurd whisper began to gain ground that perhaps there would not be a
fete at all, that Lembke perhaps was really unwell, and so on and so
on. But, thank God, the Lembkes at last appeared, she was leaning on
his arm; I must confess I was in great apprehension myself about
their appearance. But the legends were disproved, and the truth
was triumphant. The audience seemed relieved. Lembke himself seemed
perfectly well. Every one, I remember, was of that opinion, for it
can be imagined how many eyes were turned on him. I may mention,
as characteristic of our society, that there were very few of the
better-class pe