Page 654 - the-idiot

on gold or silver articles?’
‘Yes, through an agent. My own name doesn’t appear. I
have a large family, you see, and at a small percentage—‘
‘Quite so, quite so. I only asked for information—excuse
the question. Go on.’
‘Well, meanwhile that sick boy was brought here, and
those guests came in, and we had tea, and—well, we made
merry—to my ruin! Hearing of your birthday afterwards,
and excited with the circumstances of the evening, I ran
upstairs and changed my plain clothes once more for my
uniform [Civil Service clerks in Russia wear uniform.]—
you must have noticed I had my uniform on all the evening?
Well, I forgot the money in the pocket of my old coat— you
know when God will ruin a man he first of all bereaves him
of his senses—and it was only this morning at half-past sev-
en that I woke up and grabbed at my coat pocket, first thing.
The pocket was empty—the purse gone, and not a trace to
be found!’
‘Dear me! This is very unpleasant!’
‘Unpleasant! Indeed it is. You have found a very appro-
priate expression,’ said Lebedeff, politely, but with sarcasm.
‘But what’s to be done? It’s a serious matter,’ said the prince,
thoughtfully. ‘Don’t you think you may have dropped it out
of your pocket whilst intoxicated?’
‘Certainly. Anything is possible when one is intoxicated,
as you neatly express it, prince. But consider—if I, intoxi-
cated or not, dropped an object out of my pocket on to the
ground, that object ought to remain on the ground. Where
is the object, then?’