‘When you see her again—you follow the line of my thought?’
‘Yes, yes, to be sure.’
‘Try beating her; see what that would do.’
Nikolai Artemyevitch turned away exasperated.
‘I thought he was really going to give me some practical advice. But what can one expect from him! An artist, a man of no principles——’
‘No principles! By the way, I’m told your favourite Mr. Kurnatovsky, the man of principle, cleaned you out of a hundred roubles last night. That was hardly delicate, you must own now.’
‘What of it? We were playing high. Of course, I might expect—but they understand so little how to appreciate him in this house——’
‘That he thought: get what I can!’ put in Shubin: ‘whether he’s to be my father-in-law or not, is still on the knees of the gods, but a hundred roubles is worth something to a man who doesn’t take bribes.’
‘Father-in-law! How the devil am I his father-in-law? Vous rêvez, mon cher. Of course, any other girl would be delighted with such a suitor. Only consider: a man of spirit and intellect, who has gained a position in the world, served in two provinces——’
‘Led the governor in one of them by the nose,’ remarked Shubin.