Free The Doll by Boleslaw Prus

couldn’t.’
    â€˜You could not?’ Ignacy echoed.
    â€˜I could not — and
basta
! I had nothing to return for,’ Wokulski replied impatiently. ‘It was all the same whether I died here or there … more wine!’ he finished suddenly, reaching out his hand.
    Rzecki looked at his feverish face and drew the bottle out of reach.
    â€˜Let it be — you’re excited enough as it is.’
    â€˜That’s why I want to drink …’
    â€˜And that is why you should not drink,’ Ignacy interrupted. ‘You are talking too much … perhaps more than you would have wished,’ he added, emphatically.
    Wokulski drew back. He reflected, then answered with a shake of the head: ‘You are wrong.’
    â€˜I’ll prove it to you,’ said Ignacy in a stifled voice, ‘You didn’t go abroad merely to make a fortune …’
    â€˜Of course not,’ said Wokulski, after a pause.
    â€˜For what use are three hundred thousand roubles to you, when a thousand is ample for a year?’
    â€˜That is so.’
    Rzecki approached his lips to Wokulski’s ear.
    â€˜What’s more … you didn’t bring this money back for yourself.’
    â€˜Who knows but what you’re right?’
    â€˜I guess a great deal more than you may think.’
    Suddenly Wokulski laughed.
    â€˜Aha, so that’s what you think?’ he exclaimed. ‘I assure you, you old dreamer, that you know nothing.’
    â€˜I fear your sobriety, which makes you talk like a madman. Do you understand me, Staś?’
    Wokulski went on laughing.
    â€˜You’re right, I’m not used to drink and the wine has gone to my head. But I’ve collected myself now. I’ll tell you simply that you are mistaken. And now, to spare me becoming tipsy, drink up — to the success of my plans.’
    Ignacy poured a glass, and pressing Wokulski’s hand firmly said: ‘To the success of your great plan!’
    â€˜Great to me, but in reality very humble.’
    â€˜So be it,’ said Ignacy. ‘I’m so old I prefer to know no more. I’m so old that I only want a decent death. Give me your word that when that time comes …’
    â€˜When that time comes, you’ll be my best man.’
    â€˜I already was, once — and unhappily,’ said Ignacy.
    â€˜With the widow Mincel, seven years ago?’
    â€˜ Fifteen years ago .’
    â€˜Yes, you’re still the same as ever,’ laughed Wokulski.
    â€˜So are you. To the success of your plans, then. Whatever they may be, I know one thing they must be worthy of you. And now — I say no more …’
    At this, Ignacy drank his wine and threw the glass to the floor. It shattered with a crash which awoke Ir.
    â€˜Let’s go into the shop,’ said Ignacy. ‘There are conversations after which it is good to talk business.’
    He took the key and they went out. In the passageway wet snow engulfed them. Rzecki opened the door and lit some gas-jets.
    â€˜What a fine display,’ Wokulski exclaimed. ‘Surely everything is new?’
    â€˜Almost everything. You’d like to see … This porcelain. Pray observe …’
    â€˜Later. Give me the ledger.’
    â€˜Income?’
    â€˜No, the debtors.’
    Rzecki opened the bureau, took out the ledger and drew up a chair. Wokulski sat down and glanced down the list of names, seeking one name in it.
    â€˜A hundred and forty roubles,’ he read aloud. ‘Well, that is not a great deal.’
    â€˜Who’s that?’ Ignacy inquired. ‘Ah — Łęcki.’
    â€˜Miss Łęcka has an account too … very good,’ Wokulski continued, peering at the page as if the writing were indistinct. ‘Hm … hm … the day before yesterday she bought a purse … Three roubles? … Surely you overcharged her?’
    â€˜Not at all,’ said Ignacy.