He was blond, taller than average, and probably handsome in his newest shirt and ironed satin shirt. He wore a light blue eyeglasses, as Lisa thought, because it was fashionable to wear eyeglasses. He changed in two years, in Perm he was some kind of Belarusian - "like an angel on a Christmas tree", remembering him, thought Lisa. But in the turn of wide shoulders, in beautiful white teeth, in the firm man's confidence, with which he bowed and spoke
They stopped at the tower of Queen Suyumbike, and Lisa was surprised - the tower was huge, seven-tier, with a high through arch, cutting through the first floor. From afar, it seemed to be a slender red needle. In the oval of the arch there is an elegant iron inlay, and when Lisa fell in love with it, Karnovsky said that even now there are villages near Kazan where metal jewelry is dressed, not inferior to this grid.
- Think how interesting it is! - And he read: "The Kazan Tatars claimed that there were some mysterious, important papers in the apple on the tower spire, but this opinion turned out to be false. In 1830, this ball was removed, inspected by the Minister of Internal Affairs, and the Tatar dream collapsed: it was empty and made of brass.
They went to a restaurant in Panayevsky Garden and chose a comfortable table. Karnovsky handed Lisa a card and, when she began to choose something cheaper, ordered a mazar-julienne-romaine. They remained hungry after this mysterious dish, and Karnovsky ordered to serve pies.
- It is a pity that Kolya left. Contrary to his scrawny composition, he was guttering these pies with passion," he said laughing, and Lisa suddenly realized why Kostya had brought Lavrov to her: "My God, how could I not have guessed! He wanted to show me his friend. And he put on this new hoodie, which he probably wears rarely, for me! And that he was trying so hard to be entertaining, funny. He's not trying at all, but he's just having fun that we've met, and I want to get to know him.
- And it's not by chance that your friends called you Ondina," Karnovsky said, admiring her frankly. - Your eyes are really gray and green. Well, tell us, dear Ondine.
— About what?
— About myself, of course. In spite of our correspondence, I know almost nothing about you.
— What can I tell you? A regimental family, and for some reason other regiments have been standing in one city for years, and the father's ones are translated and translated, so I lived in Saratov, Perm, and Simbirsk. That's why they put me in a boarding house. My mother died when I was born, my father got married again, and my stepmother... - She stumbled. - He is a kind, gentle man, everyone loves him, and she is powerful, suspicious, afraid and deceived. I'm not afraid, and my sister looks stuffy, and I'm very glad that she too will soon be put into boarding school. I also have a brother, and we are friends with him, and it only saddens me that he also wants to become an officer. Well, what else? Everything. Now you are.
— Me? Mysterious personality. A follower of Smileys.
— And who is Smileys?
— There was a philosopher who cared about humanity touchingly. His books are called: "Saving", "Independence", "Character", "Duty". In the end, it all comes down to the fact that in every person sits English clerk in a pot, with an umbrella, and if you pull him out of there into the light of God, everything will go like oil.
— Are you laughing?
— Not quite.
— You will have to read it. My relatives always reproach me for my carelessness.
— Sleep on the first page. I read it, because I was trying to exist not somehow, but consciously, according to the theory. And there were many theories. One of them, for example, is that you can live by eating Chinese - only rice. Then I added bread to my rice and still lost my eyesight for a year and stayed myopic for the rest of my life. I was then sixteen years old. There was another theory. But I don't want to tell you about it. You are still young and will not understand.
— Tell me.
— Love, according to this theory, is something directly opposite to the so-called "family hearth". I realized this when I saw enough of my elder brother's family life.
Some gentleman in a garlic suit, in a boater hat, playing with a cane, walked past them, slipping his arrogant gaze — and Karnovsky said that this filer, who had recently been beaten up by students at the inn.
— And who is the filer?
— This is a detective, Lizochka, a detective, Karnovsky said.
— I am also against marriage, Lisa said. — But I love children. And the children, according to your theory, should be brought by a stork.
— Wow! Laughing, Karnovsky said. — Wow! Having children, Lizochka, is a crime these days.
— Why not?
— Because they are doomed to lie, arbitrariness and disenfranchisement even before they are born.
— You're wrong, Lisa said. — That is, perhaps, doomed, but still this theory is selfish, and if I had come up with such a theory, I would have hung a stone around my neck and rushed to the Volga. Do you love the Volga?
— Very much.
— So, you are still able to love?
— I don't know. It seems so, yes.
— I don't remember where I read the article about Sapunov, you know, there was such a famous artist. He drowned. It was an amazing article. The author proved that Sapunov drowned because his soul was related to the elements of water. He mentioned someone else. Who else drowned? It seems, Pisarev?
— Yes, he did.
— Well, sometimes it seems to me that I also have such a soul. Only I am related not to any water, but to the Volga. If I ever drown myself, I will definitely drown myself in the Volga.
The continuation should be...