Paul Patoff | Page 5

this
part of the upper Bosphorus. He sinks early behind the wooded hills
above Therapia, and when he is hidden the evening freshness begins,

and the crowd upon the quay swells to a multitude, as the people from
the embassies and villas sally forth to mount their horses or to get into
their caïques.
Two young men came out of the white gates of the Russian embassy,
and, crossing the road, stood upon the edge of the stone pier. They were
brothers, but the resemblance was slight between them. The one looked
like an Englishman, tall, fair, and rather angular, with hard blue eyes,
an aquiline nose, a heavy yellow mustache concealing his mouth, and a
ruddy complexion. He was extremely well dressed, and, though one
might detect some awkwardness in his movements, his manner had that
composure which comes from a great knowledge of the world, and
from a natural self-possession and independence of character.
His brother, though older by a year, might have passed for being
several years younger. He was in reality two and thirty years of age, but
his clear complexion was that of a boy, his dark brown hair curled
closely on his head, and his soft brown eyes had a young and trustful
look in them, which contrasted strangely with his brother's hard and
dominating expression. He was shorter, too, and more slender, but also
more graceful; his hands and feet were small and well shaped.
Nevertheless, his manner was at least as self-possessed as that of his
tall brother, and there was something in his look which suggested the
dashing, reckless spirit sometimes found in delicately constituted men.
Alexander Patoff was a soldier, and had obtained leave to visit his
younger brother Paul in Constantinople, where the latter held the
position of second secretary in the Russian embassy. At first sight one
would have said that Paul should have been the cavalry officer, and
Alexander the diplomatist: but fate had ordered it otherwise, for the
elder son had inherited the bulk of his father's fortune, and was,
consequently, able to bear the expenses of a career in a guard regiment;
while Paul, the younger, just managed to live comfortably the life of a
fashionable diplomacy, by dint of economy and an intelligent use of his
small income.
They were Russians, but their mother was an Englishwoman. Their
father had married a Miss Anne Dabstreak, with whom he had fallen in

love when in London, shortly before the Crimean War. She was a
beautiful woman, and had a moderate portion. Old Patoff's fortune,
however, was sufficient, and they had lived happily for ten years, when
he had died very suddenly, leaving a comfortable provision for his wife,
and the chief part of his possessions to Alexander Paolovitch Patoff, his
eldest boy. Paul, he thought, showed even as a child the character
necessary to fight his own way; and as he had since advanced regularly
in the diplomacy, it seemed probable that he would fulfill his father's
predictions, and die an embassador.
At the time when this story opens Madame Patoff was traveling in
Switzerland for her health. She was not strong, and dared not undertake
a journey to Constantinople at present. On the other hand, the climate
of northern Russia suited her even less well in summer than in winter,
and, to her great regret, her son Alexander, whom she loved better than
Paul, as he was also more like herself, had persisted in spending his
leave in a visit to his brother.
Madame Patoff had been surprised at Alexander's determination. Her
sons were not congenial to each other. They had been brought up
differently to different careers, which might partially account for the
lack of sympathy between them, but in reality the evil had a deeper root.
Madame Patoff had either never realized that Alexander had been the
favored son, and that Paul had suffered acutely from the preference
shown to his elder brother, or she had loved the latter too passionately
to care to hide her preference. Alexander had been a beautiful child,
full of grace, and gifted with that charm which in young children is not
easily resisted. Paul was ugly in his boyhood, cold and reserved, rarely
showing sympathy, and too proud to ask for what was not given him
freely. Alexander was quick-witted, talented, and showy, if I may use
so barbarous a word. Paul was slow at first, ungainly as a young foal,
strong without grace, shy of attempting anything new to him, and not
liking to be noticed. Both father and mother, as the boys grew up, loved
the older lad, and spoiled him, while the younger was kept forever at
his books, was treated coldly, and got little praise for the performance
of his tasks. Had Paul possessed