Pagina 159 di 3800

"This is what I want, my dear fellow," said the count to the

deferential young man who had entered. "Bring me..." he reflected

a moment, "yes, bring me seven hundred rubles, yes! But mind,

don't bring me such tattered and dirty notes as last time, but

nice clean ones for the countess."

"Yes, Dmitri, clean ones, please," said the countess, sighing

deeply.

"When would you like them, your excellency?" asked Dmitri. "Allow

me to inform you... But, don't be uneasy," he added, noticing

that the count was beginning to breathe heavily and quickly which

was always a sign of approaching anger. "I was forgetting... Do

you wish it brought at once?"

"Yes, yes; just so! Bring it. Give it to the countess."

"What a treasure that Dmitri is," added the count with a smile

when the young man had departed. "There is never any 'impossible'

with him. That's a thing I hate! Everything is possible."