he came as Kolomentsov. . . . But his grandfather even had changed his name to Kollometsov; his father wrote it Kallometsev, finally Semyon Petrovitch had inserted the y, and quite seriously regarded himself as an aristocrat of the purest blood; he even hinted at his family's being descended from the Barons von Gallenmeier, one of whom had been the Austrian field-marshal in the Thirty Years' War. Semyon Petrovitch was in the ministry of the Court, he had the title of a kammeryunker. He was prevented by his patriotism from entering the diplomatic service, for which he seemed destined by everything, his education, his knowledge of the world, his popularity with women, and his very appearance . . . mais quitter la Russie! jamais! Kallomyetsev had a fine property, and had connections; he had the reputation of a trustworthy and devoted man─un peu trop féodal dans ses opinions─as the distinguished Prince B———, one of the leading lights of the Petersburg official world, had said of him. Kallomyetsev had come to S———province on a two months' leave to look after his property, that is to say, 'to scare some and squeeze others.' Of course, there's no doing anything without that.
'I expected to find Boris Andreitch here by
55
