‘There’s nowhere I can hide from him! He knows every step I take! I have found notes from him everywhere. Even in my dressing room! Even in the room in the Metropole! As soon as I moved in, I found a note in the bathroom: “Anyone who dares to become close to you will die”. At that time no one but Stern even knew which room I was going to be in! And Nonarikin didn’t know!’
‘Really?’ Fandorin sank back down into the chair. ‘In the entire company only Noah Noaevich knew exactly where you were staying?’
‘Yes, he was the only one! Vasya and Sima took me there. Vasya opened the suitcases and Sima hung up my dresses and set out my toiletries…’
‘Where, in the bathroom? Please excuse me,’ Erast Petrovich interrupted her. ‘I have to leave you. We will definitely talk again. Later.’
‘Where are you going?’ Eliza sobbed. ‘I implore you, do not try to do anything!’
He gestured reassuringly as he looked around for Masa.
He was sitting sulking in a chair.
‘Don’t be offended with me,’ Erast Petrovich said to him. ‘I have treated you quite terribly. Forgive me. Tell me, what do you think about your lady friend Aphrodisina?’
The Japanese replied sadly.
‘I’m not offended with you, master. What point is there in being offended with someone who is unwell? I am offended with Sima-san. How did you know that I was thinking about her now?’
The subject of discussion was close by, only about ten steps away. Flushed after all the turmoil and agitation, Sima was telling Shiftsky something heatedly, holding one hand on her breast.
‘…My poor heart almost burst with the terror of it! It’s still fluttering now!’
Kostya looked at the spot where Aphrodisina’s heart was fluttering and couldn’t tear his eyes away.
‘It needs someone to blow on it, then it will settle down. Just give the word,’ the ‘scamp’ suggested mischievously.
Masa complained.
‘That empty-headed girl only loved me for my beauty. Now that a bullet has mutilated my features, she does not even want to look at me. I walked over to her and she said to me: “Masik, you’re a rear hero, of course, but you smerr singed.” And she wrinkled up her nose. And she turned away from my wound in disgust! Kind Reginina-san bandaged me up. She’s still quite good looking, by the way. And in a good body…’
‘I’m interested in whether Aphrodisina is fond of money?’
‘That’s all she ever talks about. How much everything costs and what things she would buy herself if she had a bigger salary. The only time she doesn’t talk about money is when she makes love, but immediately after the love she starts asking for presents. I was wounded and bleeding to death, and she turned away from me!’
Sensing that she was being watched, Aphrodisina looked round, folded her lips into a rose bud and blew Masa a kiss.
‘Master, tell her that I do not want to know her any more!’
‘Straight away.’
Fandorin walked across to Sima and gave Shiftsky an eloquent glance – he immediately disappeared.
‘Mademoiselle,’ Erast Petrovich asked in a quiet voice, ‘how much does Khan Altairsky pay you?’
‘What?’ Aphrodisina squealed, fluttering her long eyelashes.
‘You spy on Eliza, you report everything about her to her husband, you plant notes, and so on. Do not dare to lie to me, or else I shall announce this to everyone, out loud. You will be thrown out of the c-company in disgrace… Very well, I shall amend the question. I am not interested in the amount of your remuneration. I need to know where I can find this g-gentleman.’
‘I beg your pardon! How could you!’ Sima’s eyes filled up with pure tears of the highest quality. ‘Eliza is my very best friend! The two of us are like sisters!’
Fandorin twitched the corner of his mouth.
‘I shall count t-to three. One, two…’
‘He rents an apartment in Abrikosov’s tenement building on Kuznetsky Most Street,’ Aphrodisina said rapidly. She blinked and the tears dried up. ‘You won’t give me away now, will you? Remember now, you promised!’
‘How long have you been in the khan’s pay?’
‘Since St Petersburg… Oh, dear, darling man! Don’t destroy me. Noah Noaevich will blacken my name in the world of theatre! I’ll never get work with any decent company! Believe me, I know how to be grateful!’
She started breathing rapidly and moved closer to Erast Petrovich. He squinted into her décolleté, winced and moved back.
Once again, with fantastic ease, the tears started flowing down Sima’s face.
‘Don’t look at me with such contempt! It’s unbearable! I’ll lay hands on myself!’
‘Don’t venture beyond the bounds of the “coquette”, mademoiselle.’
He bowed slightly and set off quickly towards the exit, simply gesturing for Masa to follow.
ON LOVE AND MARRIAGE
Before all the other business, he had to take the Japanese to a specialist in cerebral traumas. Erast Petrovich was concerned by the way that Masa was swaying from side to side and the greenish tinge of his complexion. His unusual loquacity was also suspicious. Fandorin knew from experience that when his servant chattered continuously, he was concealing the fact that he felt terrible.
On the way to Virgin’s Field the concussed man no longer spoke about Sima and inconstant women, but about himself and heroic men.
It began with Fandorin apologising for his unsuccessful leap and praising his assistant for the alacrity he had displayed.
‘Yes,’ Masa replied solemnly. ‘I’m a hero.’
Erast Petrovich remarked guardedly:‘Quite possibly. But let others decide whether you are a hero or not.’
‘You are mistaken, master. Every man decides whether he is a hero or not. You have to make the choice and then not betray it afterwards. A man who has first decided to be a hero, but then changed his mind, is a pitiful sight. And a man who, in the middle of his life, has suddenly changed from being a non-hero to being a hero risks damaging his karma.’
Raising his automobile goggles onto his forehead, Erast Petrovich squinted at his passenger in alarm to see whether he was delirious.
‘Can you clarify that?’
‘A man who is a hero devotes his life to the service of some idea. It is not important what or whom he serves. A hero can have a wife and children, but it is better to do without that. The lot of a woman who has bound her destiny to a hero is a sad one. The children are even more to be pitied. It is terrible to grow up, feeling that your father is always ready to sacrifice you for the sake of his service.’ Masa sighed bitterly. ‘It is a different matter if you are a non-hero. A man like that chooses his family and serves that. He must not play the hero. That is the same as if a samurai betrays his lord in order to show off to the crowd.’
Fandorin listened carefully. Masa’s philosophising could sometimes be intriguing.
‘And what do you serve?’
The Japanese looked at him in resentful amazement.
‘Can you still ask? Thirty-two years ago, I chose you, master. One choice for the rest of my life. Women sometimes – quite often – bring solace to my life, but I do not promise them much and I never become involved with those who expect me to be faithful. I already have someone to serve, I tell them.’
And Erast Fandorin suddenly felt ashamed. He coughed in embarrassment, trying to clear away the lump that had risen in his throat. Masa saw that his master was embarrassed, but he misunderstood the reason for it.
‘Are you reproaching yourself for your love for Eliza-san? There is no need. My rule does not apply to you. If you wish to love a woman with all your heart and do not feel that it hinders your service, then go ahead.’