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could possibly accept them. This is an excess of ingenuous-
ness or of malice—you ought to know better than anyone
which word best fits the case.’
‘Allow me, gentlemen,’ said Gavrila Ardalionovitch, who
had just examined the contents of the envelope, ‘there are
only a hundred roubles here, not two hundred and fifty. I
point this out, prince, to prevent misunderstanding.’
‘Never mind, never mind,’ said the prince, signing to him
to keep quiet.
‘But we do mind,’ said Lebedeff’s nephew vehemently.
‘Prince, your ‘never mind’ is an insult to us. We have noth-
ing to hide; our actions can bear daylight. It is true that
there are only a hundred roubles instead of two hundred
and fifty, but it is all the same.’
‘Why, no, it is hardly the same,’ remarked Gavrila Ar-
dalionovitch, with an air of ingenuous surprise.
‘Don’t interrupt, we are not such fools as you think, Mr.
Lawyer,’ cried Lebedeff’s nephew angrily. ‘Of course there
is a difference between a hundred roubles and two hundred
and fifty, but in this case the principle is the main point, and
that a hundred and fifty roubles are missing is only a side
issue. The point to be emphasized is that Burdovsky will
not accept your highness’s charity; he flings it back in your
face, and it scarcely matters if there are a hundred roubles or
two hundred and fifty. Burdovsky has refused ten thousand
roubles; you heard him. He would not have returned even a
hundred roubles if he was dishonest! The hundred and fifty
roubles were paid to Tchebaroff for his travelling expens-
es. You may jeer at our stupidity and at our inexperience

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