THE SWEET-SCENTED NAME
IX
Confident and happy, Lohengrin, the accepted lover of Mashenka, departed. Mashenka still mingled her tears and laughter. Her mother was astonished at the news.
"How can you think of marrying him, Mashenka?" said she. "You don't mean to say you have promised without knowing anything about him? You'll find out suddenly one day that he's an escaped convict or something of that sort."
But Mashenka only blushed, and repeated obstinately:
"It doesn't matter if he's a convict or a spy or even a hangman. I shall be one too, for I love him."
And Serezha whispered in her ear:
"If he is the leader of a robber band ask him to let me be one of his men. I'm small enough to climb through the little windows."
And Mashenka laughed.
But when Lohengrin reached home he resolved that his secret was no longer worth keeping. He put his visiting card into an envelope and posted it to Mashenka.
Next day when she got home from school, Serezha met her and said with an air of mystery:
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