‘You have no right…. I am not simple,’ stammered Burdo-vsky, much agitated.
‘You have no sort of right to suppose such things,’ said Lebedeff’s nephew in a tone of authority.
‘It is most offensive!’ shrieked Hippolyte; ‘it is an insult-ing suggestion, false, and most ill-timed.’
‘I beg your pardon, gentlemen; please excuse me,’ said the prince. ‘I thought absolute frankness on both sides would be best, but have it your own way. I told Tchebaroff that, as I was not in Petersburg, I would commission a friend to
look into the matter without delay, and that I would let you know, Mr. Burdovsky. Gentlemen, I have no hesitation in telling you that it was the fact of Tchebaroff’s intervention that made me suspect a fraud. Oh! do not take offence at my words, gentlemen, for Heaven’s sake do not be so touchy!’ cried the prince, seeing that Burdovsky was getting excit-ed again, and that the rest were preparing to protest. ‘If I say I suspected a fraud, there is nothing personal in that. I had never seen any of you then; I did not even know your names; I only judged by Tchebaroff; I am speaking quite generally—if you only knew how I have been ‘done’ since I came into my fortune!’
‘You are shockingly naive, prince,’ said Lebedeff’s neph-ew in mocking tones.
‘Besides, though you are a prince and a millionaire, and even though you may really be simple and good-hearted, you can hardly be outside the general law,’ Hippolyte de-clared loudly.
‘Perhaps not; it is very possible,’ the prince agreed hastily, ‘though I do not know what general law you allude to. I will
go on—only please do not take offence without good cause. I assure you I do not mean to offend you in the least. Really, it is impossible to speak three words sincerely without your flying into a rage! At first I was amazed when Tchebaroff told me that Pavlicheff had a son, and that he was in such a miserable position. Pavlicheff was my benefactor, and my father’s friend. Oh, Mr. Keller, why does your article impute things to my father without the slightest founda-tion? He never squandered the funds of his company nor
ill-treated his subordinates, I am absolutely certain of it; I cannot imagine how you could bring yourself to write such a calumny! But your assertions concerning Pavlicheff are absolutely intolerable! You do not scruple to make a liber-tine of that noble man; you call him a sensualist as coolly as if you were speaking the truth, and yet it would not be possible to find a chaster man. He was even a scholar of note, and in correspondence with several celebrated scien-tists, and spent large sums in the interests of science. As to his kind heart and his good actions, you were right indeed when you said that I was almost an idiot at that time, and could hardly understand anything—(I could speak and un-derstand Russian, though),—but now I can appreciate what I remember—‘
‘Excuse me,’ interrupted Hippolyte, ‘is not this rath-er sentimental? You said you wished to come to the point; please remember that it is after nine o’clock.’
‘Very well, gentlemen—very well,’ replied the prince. ‘At first I received the news with mistrust, then I said to myself that I might be mistaken, and that Pavlicheff might possibly have had a son. But I was absolutely amazed at the readiness with which the son had revealed the secret of his birth at the expense of his mother’s honour. For Tchebaroff had already menaced me with publicity in our interview….’
‘What nonsense!’ Lebedeff’s nephew interrupted violent-ly.
‘You have no right—you have no right!’ cried Burdovsky. ‘The son is not responsible for the misdeeds of his father; and the mother is not to blame,’ added Hippolyte, with
warmth.
‘That seems to me all the more reason for sparing her,’ said the prince timidly.
‘Prince, you are not only simple, but your simplicity is almost past the limit,’ said Lebedeff’s nephew, with a sar-castic smile.
‘But what right had you?’ said Hippolyte in a very strange tone.
‘None—none whatever,’ agreed the prince hastily. ‘I admit you are right there, but it was involuntary, and I immediate-ly said to myself that my personal feelings had nothing to do with it,— that if I thought it right to satisfy the demands of Mr. Burdovsky, out of respect for the memory of Pavlicheff, I ought to do so in any case, whether I esteemed Mr. Bur-dovsky or not. I only mentioned this, gentlemen, because it seemed so unnatural to me for a son to betray his mother’s secret in such a way. In short, that is what convinced me that Tchebaroff must be a rogue, and that he had induced Mr. Burdovsky to attempt this fraud.’
‘But this is intolerable!’ cried the visitors, some of them starting to their feet.
‘Gentlemen, I supposed from this that poor Mr. Burdo-vsky must be a simple-minded man, quite defenceless, and an easy tool in the hands of rogues. That is why I thought it my duty to try and help him as ‘Pavlicheff’s son’; in the first place by rescuing him from the influence of Tchebaroff, and secondly by making myself his friend. I have resolved to give him ten thousand roubles; that is about the sum which I calculate that Pavlicheff must have spent on me.’
‘What, only ten thousand!’ cried Hippolyte.
‘Well, prince, your arithmetic is not up to much, or else you are mighty clever at it, though you affect the air of a simpleton,’ said Lebedeff’s nephew.
‘I will not accept ten thousand roubles,’ said Burdovsky. ‘Accept, Antip,’ whispered the boxer eagerly, leaning past
the back of Hippolyte’s chair to give his friend this piece of advice. ‘Take it for the present; we can see about more later on.’
‘Look here, Mr. Muishkin,’ shouted Hippolyte, ‘please understand that we are not fools, nor idiots, as your guests seem to imagine; these ladies who look upon us with such scorn, and especially this fine gentleman’ (pointing to Evg-enie Pavlovitch) ‘whom I have not the honour of knowing, though I think I have heard some talk about him—‘
‘Really, really, gentlemen,’ cried the prince in great agita-tion, ‘you are misunderstanding me again. In the first place, Mr. Keller, you have greatly overestimated my fortune in your article. I am far from being a millionaire. I have bare-ly a tenth of what you suppose. Secondly, my treatment in Switzerland was very far from costing tens of thousands of roubles. Schneider received six hundred roubles a year, and he was only paid for the first three years. As to the pretty governesses whom Pavlicheff is supposed to have brought from Paris, they only exist in Mr. Keller’s imagination; it is another calumny. According to my calculations, the sum spent on me was very considerably under ten thousand roubles, but I decided on that sum, and you must admit that in paying a debt I could not offer Mr. Burdovsky more,
however kindly disposed I might be towards him; delicacy forbids it; I should seem to be offering him charity instead of rightful payment. I don’t know how you cannot see that, gentlemen! Besides, I had no intention of leaving the mat-ter there. I meant to intervene amicably later on and help to improve poor Mr. Burdovsky’s position. It is clear that he has been deceived, or he would never have agreed to any-thing so vile as the scandalous revelations about his mother in Mr. Keller’s article. But, gentlemen, why are you getting angry again? Are we never to come to an understanding? Well, the event has proved me right! I have just seen with my own eyes the proof that my conjecture was correct!’ he added, with increasing eagerness.
He meant to calm his hearers, and did not perceive that his words had only increased their irritation.
‘What do you mean? What are you convinced of?’ they demanded angrily.
‘In the first place, I have had the opportunity of getting a correct idea of Mr. Burdovsky. I see what he is for myself. He is an innocent man, deceived by everyone! A defence-less victim, who deserves indulgence! Secondly, Gavrila Ardalionovitch, in whose hands I had placed the matter, had his first interview with me barely an hour ago. I had not heard from him for some time, as I was away, and have been ill for three days since my return to St. Petersburg. He tells me that he has exposed the designs of Tchebaroff and has proof that justifies my opinion of him. I know, gentle-men, that many people think me an idiot. Counting upon my reputation as a man whose purse-strings are easily
loosened, Tchebaroff thought it would be a simple matter to fleece me, especially by trading on my gratitude to Pav-licheff. But the main point is—listen, gentlemen, let me finish!—the main point is that Mr. Burdovsky is not Pav-licheff’s son at all. Gavrila Ardalionovitch has just told me of his discovery, and assures me that he has positive proofs. Well, what do you think of that? It is scarcely credible, even after all the tricks that have been played upon me. Please note that we have positive proofs! I can hardly believe it my-self, I assure you; I do not yet believe it; I am still doubtful, because Gavrila Ardalionovitch
