‘What! Did you write all that yourself? Is it possible?’ asked the prince, regarding Burdovsky with curiosity.
‘One might dispute your right to ask such questions,’ ob-served Lebedeff’s nephew.
‘I was only surprised that Mr. Burdovsky should have— however, this is what I have to say. Since you had already
given the matter publicity, why did you object just now, when I began to speak of it to my friends?’
‘At last!’ murmured Lizabetha Prokofievna indignantly. Lebedeff could restrain himself no longer; he made his
way through the row of chairs.
‘Prince,’ he cried, ‘you are forgetting that if you consent-ed to receive and hear them, it was only because of your kind heart which has no equal, for they had not the least right to demand it, especially as you had placed the mat-ter in the hands of Gavrila Ardalionovitch, which was also extremely kind of you. You are also forgetting, most excel-lent prince, that you are with friends, a select company; you cannot sacrifice them to these gentlemen, and it is only for you to have them turned out this instant. As the master of the house I shall have great pleasure ….’
‘Quite right!’ agreed General Ivolgin in a loud voice. ‘That will do, Lebedeff, that will do—‘ began the prince,
when an indignant outcry drowned his words.
‘Excuse me, prince, excuse me, but now that will not do,’ shouted Lebedeff’s nephew, his voice dominating all the others. ‘The matter must be clearly stated, for it is obvious-ly not properly understood. They are calling in some legal chicanery, and upon that ground they are threatening to turn us out of the house! Really, prince, do you think we are such fools as not to be aware that this matter does not come within the law, and that legally we cannot claim a rouble from you? But we are also aware that if actual law is not on our side, human law is for us, natural law, the law of com-mon-sense and conscience, which is no less binding upon
every noble and honest man—that is, every man of sane judgment—because it is not to be found in miserable legal codes. If we come here without fear of being turned out (as was threatened just now) because of the imperative tone of our demand, and the unseemliness of such a visit at this late hour (though it was not late when we arrived, we were kept waiting in your anteroom), if, I say, we came in with-out fear, it is just because we expected to find you a man of sense; I mean, a man of honour and conscience. It is quite true that we did not present ourselves humbly, like your flatterers and parasites, but holding up our heads as befits independent men. We present no petition, but a proud and free demand (note it well, we do not beseech, we demand!). We ask you fairly and squarely in a dignified manner. Do you believe that in this affair of Burdovsky you have right on your side? Do you admit that Pavlicheff overwhelmed you with benefits, and perhaps saved your life? If you ad-mit it (which we take for granted), do you intend, now that you are a millionaire, and do you not think it in conformity with justice, to indemnify Burdovsky? Yes or no? If it is yes, or, in other words, if you possess what you call honour and conscience, and we more justly call common-sense, then accede to our demand, and the matter is at an end. Give us satisfaction, without entreaties or thanks from us; do not expect thanks from us, for what you do will be done not for our sake, but for the sake of justice. If you refuse to sat-isfy us, that is, if your answer is no, we will go away at once, and there will be an end of the matter. But we will tell you to your face before the present company that you are a man
of vulgar and undeveloped mind; we will openly deny you the right to speak in future of your honour and conscience, for you have not paid the fair price of such a right. I have no more to say—I have put the question before you. Now turn us out if you dare. You can do it; force is on your side. But remember that we do not beseech, we demand! We do not beseech, we demand!’
With these last excited words, Lebedeff’s nephew was si-lent.
‘We demand, we demand, we demand, we do not be-seech,’ spluttered Burdovsky, red as a lobster.
The speech of Lebedeff’s nephew caused a certain stir among the company; murmurs arose, though with the exception of Lebedeff, who was still very much excited, ev-eryone was careful not to interfere in the matter. Strangely enough, Lebedeff, although on the prince’s side, seemed quite proud of his nephew’s eloquence. Gratified vanity was visible in the glances he cast upon the assembled company.
‘In my opinion, Mr. Doktorenko,’ said the prince, in rath-er a low voice, ‘you are quite right in at least half of what you say. I would go further and say that you are altogether right, and that I quite agree with you, if there were not something lacking in your speech. I cannot undertake to say precisely what it is, but you have certainly omitted something, and you cannot be quite just while there is something lacking. But let us put that aside and return to the point. Tell me what induced you to publish this article. Every word of it is a calumny, and I think, gentlemen, that you have been guilty of a mean action.’
‘Allow me—‘ ‘Sir—‘
‘What? What? What?’ cried all the visitors at once, in vio-lent agitation.
‘As to the article,’ said Hippolyte in his croaking voice, ‘I have told you already that we none of us approve of it! There is the writer,’ he added, pointing to the boxer, who
sat beside him. ‘I quite admit that he has written it in his old regimental manner, with an equal disregard for style and decency. I know he is a cross between a fool and an ad-venturer; I make no bones about telling him so to his face every day. But after all he is half justified; publicity is the lawful right of every man; consequently, Burdovsky is not excepted. Let him answer for his own blunders. As to the objection which I made just now in the name of all, to the presence of your friends, I think I ought to explain, gentle-men, that I only did so to assert our rights, though we really wished to have witnesses; we had agreed unanimously upon the point before we came in. We do not care who your wit-nesses may be, or whether they are your friends or not. As they cannot fail to recognize Burdovsky’s right (seeing that it is mathematically demonstrable), it is just as well that the witnesses should be your friends. The truth will only be more plainly evident.’
‘It is quite true; we had agreed upon that point,’ said Leb-edeff’s nephew, in confirmation.
‘If that is the case, why did you begin by making such a fuss about it?’ asked the astonished prince.
The boxer was dying to get in a few words; owing, no
doubt, to the presence of the ladies, he was becoming quite jovial.
‘As to the article, prince,’ he said, ‘I admit that I wrote it, in spite of the severe criticism of my poor friend, in whom I always overlook many things because of his unfortunate state of health. But I wrote and published it in the form of a letter, in the paper of a friend. I showed it to no one but Burdovsky, and I did not read it all through, even to him. He immediately gave me permission to publish it, but you will admit that I might have done so without his consent. Publicity is a noble, beneficent, and universal right. I hope, prince, that you are too progressive to deny this?’
‘I deny nothing, but you must confess that your arti-cle—‘
‘Is a bit thick, you mean? Well, in a way that is in the pub-lic interest; you will admit that yourself, and after all one cannot overlook a blatant fact. So much the worse for the guilty parties, but the public welfare must come before ev-erything. As to certain inaccuracies and figures of speech, so to speak, you will also admit that the motive, aim, and intention, are the chief thing. It is a question, above all, of making a wholesome example; the individual case can be examined afterwards; and as to the style—well, the thing was meant to be humorous, so to speak, and, after all, every-body writes like that; you must admit it yourself! Ha, ha!’
‘But, gentlemen, I assure you that you are quite astray,’ exclaimed the prince. ‘You have published this article upon the supposition that I would never consent to satisfy Mr. Burdovsky. Acting on that conviction, you have tried to in-
timidate me by this publication and to be revenged for my supposed refusal. But what did you know of my intentions? It may be that I have resolved to satisfy Mr. Burdovsky’s claim. I now declare openly, in the presence of these wit-nesses, that I will do so.’
‘The noble and intelligent word of an intelligent and most noble man, at last!’ exclaimed the boxer.
‘Good God!’ exclaimed Lizabetha Prokofievna involun-tarily.
‘This is intolerable,’ growled the general.
‘Allow me, gentlemen, allow me,’ urged the prince.
‘I will explain matters to you. Five weeks ago I received a visit from Tchebaroff, your agent, Mr. Burdovsky. You have
