The Cathedral Clergy: A Chronicle

Chapter 10

Chapter 10 The inspector was not asleep yet when his happy secretary returned. Clad in a white wool homespun jacket, His Excellency, Termosesov’s traveling companion, was lying on the bed that had been made up for him, his legs covered with a light afghan, and was dozing or daydreaming with his eyes closed. Termosesov wished to ascertain whether his superior was sleeping or merely pretending to be asleep, so he quietly went over to his bed, bent down to his face, and said his name. “Are you asleep?” Termosesov asked him. “Yes,” Bornovolokov replied. “Oh, come on now. If you answer, that means you’re not asleep.” “Yes.” “Well, that doesn’t make any sense.” Termosesov went to the other bed, threw off his coat, and began preparing to take a nap, too. “While you were in here dozing, I did quite a bit of groundwork,” he began as he made himself comfortable. In reply Bornovolokov merely let fall another solitary yes, but a very distinctive yes, full of curiosity, so to speak, with a hint of a question. “Yes, and I, sir, mean yes. I can tell you, for example, that I have made some extremely useful discoveries.” “Through that lady?” “The lady? The lady—that goes without saying. That’s just an affair to take up between affairs! But that, sir, is not the point. Do you remember what I said to you when I caught you in Moscow on Sadovaya Street?” “Oh, yes!” “I said to you, ‘Your Excellency, my most gracious prince! This is no way to treat your old comrades, leaving them in the lurch. Only scoundrels do that.’ Did I say that to you or not?” “Yes, you did.” “Aha! You remember! Then you must also remember how I explained my thoughts to you afterwards and proved that you, our princes of égalité27 who are now going back to the privileges of your noble birth 27 A reference to Louis-Philippe-Joseph, duc d’Orleans (1747–93), a supporter of popular democracy during the French Revolution who, with his son, the future 178 PART II and your positions in government service, you can’t just turn up your noses at us old Montagnards,28 your former friends. I spelled all this out to you very clearly.” “Yes, yes.” “Splendid! You realized that it would not be a good idea to toy with me, and you were very obliging, and I commend you for that. You realized that you couldn’t desert me the way you did because nobody likes to go hungry, you see, and who knows what a starving man might recall? And Termosesov has a first-rate memory and he’s also pretty sharp: even when you were the reddest of revolutionaries he knew that you were bound to change your tune.” “Yes.” “So you decided to take me on as your amanuensis… That is, if the truth be told so as not to insult you with flattery, you didn’t decide to do it—I forced you to take me on. I scared you by threatening to produce your correspondence with certain of our brethren over in the Vistula region.” “Oh-h…” “All right, Prince, don’t sigh. What I said to you back then in Moscow on Sadovaya Street when you tried to get away from me and I held you by your coat button I’ll say to you now: Don’t moan and groan because Termosesov has descended upon you. Ishmael Termosesov is going to do you a great service. Now you and that present party of yours, where there aren’t any knaves like Termosesov but there are other ones of a purer breed, you’re starting newspapers and trying to get control of the common people one way or another.” “Yes, sir.” “Well, you’ll never get it that way.” “Why not?” “Because you’re totally inept: the loyalists will recognize you right away by your lily white mitts and throw you out on your ear.” “Hm!” “Yes, sir, forget about those newspapers and join forces with Termosesov . He’ll take care of everything for you. You can be Ivan Czarevitch and I’ll be your Gray Wolf.”29 “Yes, you are indeed the Gray Wolf.” King Louis-Philippe, renounced his title of nobility in 1792 and became known as Philippe Égalité. 28 Montagnards—members of the democratic faction that controlled the government at the height of the French Revolution, from 1793 to 1794...