Pagina 242 di 2288

"Ah, Kostya!" he exclaimed suddenly, recognizing his brother, and

his eyes lit up with joy. But the same second he looked round at

the young man, and gave the nervous jerk of his head and neck

that Konstantin knew so well, as if his neckband hurt him; and a

quite different expression, wild, suffering, and cruel, rested on

his emaciated face.

"I wrote to you and Sergey Ivanovitch both that I don't know you

and don't want to know you. What is it you want?"

He was not at all the same as Konstantin had been fancying him.

The worst and most tiresome part of his character, what made all

relations with him so difficult, had been forgotten by Konstantin

Levin when he thought of him, and now, when he saw his face, and

especially that nervous twitching of his head, he remembered it

all.

"I didn't want to see you for anything," he answered timidly.

"I've simply come to see you."

His brother's timidity obviously softened Nikolay. His lips

twitched.