excuse me,” said the prince. “Ithought absolute frankness on both sides would be best, but have it yourown way. I told Tchebaroff that, as I was not in Petersburg, I wouldcommission a friend to look into the matter without delay, and that Iwould let you know, Mr. Burdovsky. Gentlemen, I have no hesitation intelling you that it was the fact of Tchebaroff’s intervention that mademe 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 thatBurdovsky was getting excited again, and that the rest were preparingto protest. “If I say I suspected a fraud, there is nothing personal inthat. 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 onlyknew how I have been ‘done’ since I came into my fortune!”
“You are shockingly naive, prince,” said Lebedeff’s nephew in mockingtones.
“Besides, though you are a prince and a millionaire, and even thoughyou may really be simple and good-hearted, you can hardly be outside thegeneral law,” Hippolyte declared loudly.
“Perhaps not; it is very possible,” the prince agreed hastily, “though Ido not know what general law you allude to. I will go on--only pleasedo not take offence without good cause. I assure you I do not mean tooffend you in the least. Really, it is impossible to speak three wordssincerely without your flying into a rage! At first I was amazed whenTchebaroff told me that Pavlicheff had a son, and that he was in sucha miserable position. Pavlicheff was my benefactor, and my father’sfriend. Oh, Mr. Keller, why does your article impute things to my fatherwithout the slightest foundation? He never squandered the funds of hiscompany 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 libertine of that noble man; you call him asensualist as coolly as if you were speaking the truth, and yet it wouldnot be possible to find a chaster man. He was even a scholar of note,and in correspondence with several celebrated scientists, and spentlarge sums in the interests of science. As to his kind heart and hisgood actions, you were right indeed when you said that I was almost anidiot at that time, and could hardly understand anything--(I couldspeak and understand Russian, though),--but now I can appreciate what Iremember--”
“Excuse me,” interrupted Hippolyte, “is not this rather sentimental? Yousaid you wished to come to the point; please remember that it is afternine o’clock.”
“Very well, gentlemen--very well,” replied the prince. “At first Ireceived the news with mistrust, then I said to myself that I might bemistaken, and that Pavlicheff might possibly have had a son. But I wasabsolutely amazed at the readiness with which the son had revealedthe secret of his birth at the expense of his mother’s honour. ForTchebaroff had already menaced me with publicity in our interview....”
“What nonsense!” Lebedeff’s nephew interrupted violently.
“You have no right--you have no right!” cried Burdovsky.
“The son is not responsible for the misdeeds of his father; and themother is not to blame,” added Hippolyte, with warmth.
“That seems to me all the more reason for sparing her,” said the princetimidly.
“Prince, you are not only simple, but your simplicity is almost past thelimit,” said Lebedeff’s nephew, with a sarcastic smile.
“But what right had you?” said Hippolyte in a very strange tone.
“None--none whatever,” agreed the prince hastily. “I admit you are rightthere, but it was involuntary, and I immediately said to myself that mypersonal feelings had nothing to do with it,--that if I thought it rightto satisfy the demands of Mr. Burdovsky, out of respect for the memoryof Pavlicheff, I ought to do so in any case, whether I esteemed Mr.Burdovsky or not. I only mentioned this, gentlemen, because it seemed sounnatural 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, andthat he had induced Mr. Burdovsky to attempt this fraud.”
“But this is intolerable!” cried the visitors, some of them starting totheir feet.
“Gentlemen, I supposed from this that poor Mr. Burdovsky must be asimple-minded man, quite defenceless, and an easy tool in the handsof rogues. That is why I thought it my duty to try and help himas ‘Pavlicheff’s son’; in the first place by rescuing him from theinfluence of Tchebaroff, and secondly by making myself his friend. Ihave resolved to give him ten thousand roubles; that is about the sumwhich 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 mightyclever at it, though you affect the air of a simpleton,” said Lebedeff’snephew.
“I will not accept ten thousand roubles,” said Burdovsky.
“Accept, Antip,” whispered the boxer eagerly, leaning past the back ofHippolyte’s chair to give his friend this piece of advice. “Take it forthe present; we can see about more later on.”
“Look here, Mr. Muishkin,” shouted Hippolyte, “please understand that weare not fools, nor idiots, as your guests seem to imagine; these ladieswho look upon us with such scorn, and especially this fine gentleman” (pointing to Evgenie 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 agitation, “youare misunderstanding me again. In the first place, Mr. Keller, you havegreatly overestimated my fortune in your article. I am far from beinga millionaire. I have barely a tenth of what you suppose. Secondly, mytreatment in Switzerland was very far from costing tens of thousands ofroubles. Schneider received six hundred roubles a year, and he wasonly paid for the first three years. As to the pretty governesses whomPavlicheff is supposed to have brought from Paris, they only existin Mr. Keller’s imagination; it is another calumny. According to mycalculations, the sum spent on me was very considerably under tenthousand roubles, but I decided on that sum, and you must admit thatin paying a debt I could not offer Mr. Burdovsky more, however kindlydisposed I might be towards him; delicacy forbids it; I should seem tobe offering him charity instead of rightful payment. I don’t know howyou cannot see that, gentlemen! Besides, I had no intention of leavingthe matter there. I meant to intervene amicably later on and help toimprove poor Mr. Burdovsky’s position. It is clear that he has beendeceived, or he would never have agreed to anything so vile as thescandalous revelations about his mother in Mr. Keller’s article. But,gentlemen, why are you getting angry again? Are we never to come to anunderstanding? Well, the event has proved me right! I have just seenwith 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 hadonly 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 correctidea of Mr. Burdovsky. I see what he is for myself. He is an innocentman, deceived by everyone! A defenceless victim, who deservesindulgence! Secondly, Gavrila Ardalionovitch, in whose hands I hadplaced 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 illfor three days since my return to St. Petersburg. He tells me that hehas exposed the designs of Tchebaroff and has proof that justifies myopinion of him. I know, gentlemen, that many people think me an idiot.Counting upon my reputation as a man whose purse-strings are easilyloosened, Tchebaroff thought it would be a simple matter to fleece me,especially by trading on my gratitude to Pavlicheff. But the mainpoint is--listen, gentlemen, let me finish!--the main point is that Mr.Burdovsky is not Pavlicheff’s son at all. Gavrila Ardalionovitch hasjust told me of his discovery, and assures me that he has positiveproofs. Well, what do you think of that? It is scarcely credible, evenafter all the tricks that have been played upon me. Please
note that wehave positive proofs! I can hardly believe it myself, I assure you; I donot yet believe it; I am still doubtful, because Gavrila Ardalionovitchhas not had time to go into details; but there can be no further doubtthat Tchebaroff is a rogue! He has deceived poor Mr. Burdovsky, andall of you, gentlemen, who have come forward so nobly to support yourfriend--(he evidently needs support, I quite see that!). He has abusedyour credulity and involved you all in an attempted fraud, for when allis said and done this claim is nothing else!”
“What! a fraud? What, he is not Pavlicheff’s son? Impossible!”
These exclamations but feebly expressed the profound bewilderment intowhich the prince’s words had plunged Burdovsky’s companions.
“Certainly it is a fraud! Since Mr. Burdovsky is not Pavlicheff’s son,his claim is neither more nor less than attempted fraud (supposing, ofcourse, that he had known the truth), but the fact is that he has beendeceived. I insist on this point in order to justify him; I repeat thathis simple-mindedness makes him worthy of pity, and that he