Colmina

Colmina is the Epanchin family's country estate, located about twenty miles from St. Petersburg. After the catastrophic evening at Nastasia Philipovna's house, where Aglaya Ivanovna Epanchin confronted her rival and fled in hysterics, the Epanchins could not remain in Pavlofsk. Lizabetha Prokofievna Epanchin insisted that it was impossible to stay after what had happened, especially given the rumours circulating in town about the prince's conduct and the scandalous wedding plans. The family therefore retreated to Colmina, a secluded property where they could avoid public scrutiny and tend to Aglaya's shattered nerves.

Aglaya's Illness and the Family's Retreat

At Colmina, Aglaya lay ill for two nights with high fever, unable to sleep. Though she eventually recovered from the immediate physical danger, she remained in a nervous, hysterical state. The family maintained a strict silence about the past events, never uttering a hint about them in Aglaya's presence or even among themselves. When Evgenie Pavlovitch Radomski visited the prince and reported these details, he noted that the old people were discussing a trip abroad in the autumn, immediately after Adelaida Ivanovna Epanchin's wedding. Aglaya received the news of this planned journey in silence. Princess Bielokonski had not yet returned to Moscow and was apparently staying on for reasons of her own.

The Prince's Desperate Attempt to Reach Aglaya

When the prince learned from Evgenie Pavlovitch that the Epanchins had left Pavlofsk for Colmina, he grew very pale and nodded thoughtfully, saying he knew it was bound to be so. He immediately asked where they had gone and, upon hearing the answer, begged Evgenie to take him there at once. Evgenie refused, saying it was impossible. The prince then proposed writing a letter for Evgenie to deliver, but Evgenie declined that commission as well, insisting he could not undertake such errands. The prince, in his anguish, declared that without Aglaya he would die in his sleep, and that she would understand everything if only he could see her. Evgenie left the house convinced that the prince must be out of his mind.

The Final Meeting at Schneider's Establishment

Months later, when Evgenie Pavlovitch paid his last visit to Dr. Schneider's establishment in Switzerland, he encountered the entire Epanchin family there, except for General Ivan Fedorovitch Epanchin, who had remained in St. Petersburg. Prince S. was also present. The meeting was a strange one. They all received Evgenie with effusive delight; Adelaida and Alexandra were deeply grateful to him for his angelic kindness to the unhappy prince. Lizabetha Prokofievna, when she saw poor Prince Lef Nicolaievitch Muishkin in his enfeebled and humiliated condition, wept bitterly. Apparently all was forgiven him. The prince did not recognize her in the slightest degree. Lizabetha Prokofievna, in her characteristic manner, criticized everything foreign with hostility, declaring that they could not bake bread anywhere decently and that all this European life was mere foolery. She insisted it was time they faced the truth and went home.