Page 724 - the-idiot

your friendship for him. And you can allow yourself to hu-
miliate so thoroughly honest a man!’
‘Thoroughly honest, quite so, prince, thoroughly hon-
est!’ said Lebedeff, with flashing eyes. ‘And only you, prince,
could have found so very appropriate an expression. I hon-
our you for it, prince. Very well, that’s settled; I shall find
the purse now and not tomorrow. Here, I find it and take
it out before your eyes! And the money is all right. Take
it, prince, and keep it till tomorrow, will you? Tomorrow
or next day I’ll take it back again. I think, prince, that the
night after its disappearance it was buried under a bush in
the garden. So I believe—what do you think of that?’
‘Well, take care you don’t tell him to his face that you
have found the purse. Simply let him see that it is no longer
in the lining of your coat, and form his own conclusions.’
‘Do you think so? Had I not just better tell him I have
found it, and pretend I never guessed where it was?’
‘No, I don’t think so,’ said the prince, thoughtfully; ‘it’s
too late for that—that would be dangerous now. No, no!
Better say nothing about it. Be nice with him, you know,
but don’t show him —oh, YOU know well enough—‘
‘I know, prince, of course I know, but I’m afraid I shall
not carry it out; for to do so one needs a heart like your
own. He is so very irritable just now, and so proud. At one
moment he will embrace me, and the next he flies out at
me and sneers at me, and then I stick the lining forward
on purpose. Well, au revoir, prince, I see I am keeping you,
and boring you, too, interfering with your most interesting
private reflections.’