Pagina 556 van 1294

"N-no," answered Dounia, with more animation. "I saw clearly that

it was too naively expressed, and that perhaps he simply has no

skill in writing... that is a true criticism, brother. I did not

expect, indeed..."

"It is expressed in legal style, and sounds coarser than perhaps

he intended. But I must disillusion you a little. There is one

expression in the letter, one slander about me, and rather a

contemptible one. I gave the money last night to the widow, a

woman in consumption, crushed with trouble, and not 'on the

pretext of the funeral,' but simply to pay for the funeral, and

not to the daughter--a young woman, as he writes, of notorious

behaviour (whom I saw last night for the first time in my

life)--but to the widow. In all this I see a too hasty desire to

slander me and to raise dissension between us. It is expressed

again in legal jargon, that is to say, with a too obvious display

of the aim, and with a very naive eagerness. He is a man of

intelligence, but to act sensibly, intelligence is not enough. It

all shows the man and... I don't think he has a great esteem for

you. I tell you this simply to warn you, because I sincerely wish

for your good..."