‘Really? But will he care to come to see us?’
‘I should think so. He will be delighted.’
‘He isn’t proud, then?’
‘Not the least. That’s to say, he is proud if you like, only not in the sense you mean. He will never, for instance, borrow money from any one.’
‘Is he poor?’
‘Yes, he isn’t rich. When he went to Bulgaria he collected some relics left of his father’s property, and his aunt helps him; but it all comes to very little.’
‘He must have a great deal of character,’ observed Elena.
‘Yes. He is a man of iron. And at the same time you will see there is something childlike and frank, with all his concentration and even his reserve. It’s true, his frankness is not our poor sort of frankness—the frankness of people who have absolutely nothing to conceal.... But there, I will bring him to see you; wait a little.’
‘And isn’t he shy?’ asked Elena again.
‘No, he’s not shy. It’s only vain people who are shy.’