RUDIN
‘Does your head ache?’ Alexandra Pavlovna inquired of Darya Mihailovna.
‘No. It is only my—c’est nerveux.’
‘Allow me to inquire,’ Pigasov was beginning again in his nasal tones, ‘your friend, his excellency Baron Muffel—I think that’s his name?’
‘Precisely.’
‘Does his excellency Baron Muffel make a special study of political economy, or does he only devote to that interesting subject the hours of leisure left over from his social amusements and his official duties?’
Rudin looked steadily at Pigasov.
‘The baron is an amateur on this subject,’ he replied, growing rather red, ‘but in his essay there is much that is interesting and just.’
‘I am not able to dispute it with you; I have not read the essay. But I venture to ask—the work of your friend Baron Muffel is no doubt founded more upon general propositions than upon facts?’
‘It contains both facts and propositions founded upon the facts.’
‘Yes, yes. I must tell you that, in my opinion
46
