nt and his companions,
although they knew nothing of the incident. It's true that he had once
before been disposed to leave the army long before the insult to his
father, and on quite other grounds, but he had hesitated. Strange as it
is to write, the original design, or rather desire, to leave the army
was due to the proclamation of the 19th of February of the emancipation
of the serfs. Gaganov, who was one of the richest landowners in the
province, and who had not lost very much by the emancipation, and was,
moreover, quite capable of understanding the humanity of the reform and
its economic advantages, suddenly felt himself personally insulted by
the proclamation. It was something unconscious, a feeling; but was
all the stronger for being unrecognised. He could not bring himself,
however, to take any decisive step till his father's death. But he began
to be well known for his "gentlemanly" ideas to many persons of high
position in Petersburg, with whom he strenuously kept up connections. He
was secretive and self-contained. Another characteristic: he belonged to
that strange section of the nobility, still surviving in Russia, who
set an extreme value on their pure and ancient lineage, and take it too
seriously. At the same time he could not endure Russian history, and,
indeed, looked upon Russian customs in general as more or less piggish.
Even in his childhood, in the special military school for the sons of
particularly wealthy and distinguished families in which he had the
privilege of being educated, from first to last certain poetic notions
were deeply rooted in his mind. He loved castles, chivalry; all the
theatrical part of it. He was ready to cry with shame that in the days
of the Moscow Tsars the sovereign had the right to inflict corporal
punishment on the Russian boyars, and blushed at the contrast. This
stiff and extremely severe man, who had a remarkable knowledge of
military science and performed his duties admirably, was at heart a
dreamer. It was said that he could speak at meetings and had the gift of
language, but at no time during the thirty-three years of his life had
he spoken. Even in the distinguished circles in Petersburg, in which
he had moved of late, he behaved with extraordinary haughtiness.
His meeting in Petersburg with Nikolay Vsyevolodovitch, who had just
returned from abroad, almost sent him out of his mind. At the present
moment, standing at the barrier, he was terribly uneasy. He kept