"
The tears broke out afresh, but from a different source. For some seconds
she could not speak.
"Why do you cry so bitterly?" he asked, not understanding at all what was
passing. "I swear to you it is all true--"
"It is not that--it is not that," cried Vjera. "I know--I know that you
believe it--and I love you so very much--"
"But then, I do not understand," said the Count in a low voice that
expressed his pitiful perplexity. "How can I not believe it, when it is
all in the letters? And why should you not believe it, too? Besides, Vjera
dear, it will all be quite clear to-morrow. Of course--well, I can
understand that having known me poor so long, it must seem strange to you
to think of me as very rich. But I shall not be another man, for that. I
shall always be the same for you, Vjera, always the same."
"Yes, always the same," sighed the girl under her breath.
"Yes, and so, if you love me to-day, you will love me just as well
to-morrow--to-morrow, the great day for me. What day will it be? Let me
see--to-morrow is Wednesday."
"Wednesday, yes," repeated Vjera. "If only there were no to-morrow--" She
checked herself. "I mean," she added, quickly, "if only it could be
Thursday, without any day between."
"You are a strange girl, Vjera. I do not know what you are thinking of
to-day. But to-morrow you will see. I think they will come for me in the
morning. You shall see, you shall see."
Vjera began to move onward and the Count walked by her side, wondering at
her manner and tormenting his brain in the vain effort to understand it.
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