Page 245 - the-idiot

‘He is drunk,’ said the prince, quietly, ‘and he loves you
very much.’
‘Won’t you be ashamed, afterwards, to reflect that your
wife very nearly ran away with Rogojin?’
‘Oh, you were raving, you were in a fever; you are still
half delirious.’
‘And won’t you be ashamed when they tell you, afterwards,
that your wife lived at Totski’s expense so many years?’
‘No; I shall not be ashamed of that. You did not so live by
your own will.’
‘And you’ll never reproach me with it?’
‘Never.’
‘Take care, don’t commit yourself for a whole lifetime.’
‘Nastasia Philipovna.’ said the prince, quietly, and with
deep emotion, ‘I said before that I shall esteem your con-
sent to be my wife as a great honour to myself, and shall
consider that it is you who will honour me, not I you, by our
marriage. You laughed at these words, and others around
us laughed as well; I heard them. Very likely I expressed
myself funnily, and I may have looked funny, but, for all
that, I believe I understand where honour lies, and what I
said was but the literal truth. You were about to ruin your-
self just now, irrevocably; you would never have forgiven
yourself for so doing afterwards; and yet, you are absolutely
blameless. It is impossible that your life should be alto-
gether ruined at your age. What matter that Rogojin came
bargaining here, and that Gavrila Ardalionovitch would
have deceived you if he could? Why do you continually re-
mind us of these facts? I assure you once more that very

The Idiot