“What’s this?” Rina asked, pointing to the coppers that lay on her breast.
“That’s because people thought you were dead, they gave coppers for your burial. But I had a good look at you and thought to myself: ‘No, she’s alive,’ and I got some water for you.”
Rina glanced at herself and seeing her torn dress and bare breast, felt ashamed. The man understood and covered her.
“You’re all right, miss, you’ll not die.”
People came up and also a policeman, while Rina sat up, and gave her father’s name and address, and Emelian went for the cab. The crowd round her continued to increase. When Emelian returned with the cab, she rose, and refusing help, got into the vehicle by herself. She was so ashamed of the condition she was in.
“Where is your cousin?” asked an old woman.
“I don’t know. I don’t know,” said Rina in despair.
(On reaching home she learnt that Alec had managed to leave the crowd when the crush first began and he returned home safely.)
“That man saved me,” said Rina. “If it had not been for him, I don’t know what would have happened.”
“What is you name?” she said, turning to Emelian.
“Mine? What does my name matter?”
“She’s a princess,” a woman whispered in his ear. “Ri-i-i-ch.”
“Come with me to my father, he will thank you.” Suddenly the heart of Emelian seemed to be infused with a kind of strength so that he would not have exchanged this feeling for a lottery ticket worth 200,000 roubles.