But while I was seeking for a word, the girl came to herself, looked round, started, cast down her eyes and slipped by me along the embankment. I at once followed her; but she, divining this, left the embankment, crossed the road and walked along the pavement. I dared not cross the street after her. My heart was fluttering like a captured bird. All at once a chance came to my aid. Along the same side of the pavement there suddenly came into sight, not far from the girl, a gentleman in evening dress, of dignified years, though by no means of dignified carriage; he was staggering and cautiously leaning against the wall. The girl flew straight as an arrow, with the timid haste one sees in all girls who do not want any one to volunteer to accompany them home at night, and no doubt the staggering gentleman would not have pursued her, if my good luck had not prompted him.
An unidentified woman, by Ivan Makarov (1856).
By Ivan Makarov, Wikimedia Commons. Public domain.
A portrait of a young woman, by Ivan Makarov (1822–1897). White Nights is told by an unnamed narrator, who looks back over a brief but intense friendship with a girl called Nastenka (short for Anastasia) during the romantic white nights of St Petersburg in June. Both live very restricted, reclusive lives, both are sensitive and highly strung. One after the other they share their personal histories, and as Nastenka speaks it becomes clear that for our hero, the friendship is going to present him with a dilemma. Whether the story has a happy ending or not is not an easy question to answer.
