RUDIN
her in the face with a smile) ‘we shall be friends, you and I. What do you think?’
‘He treats me like a school-girl,’ Natalya reflected again, and, not knowing what to say, she asked him whether he intended to remain long in the country.
‘All the summer and autumn, and perhaps the winter too. I am a very poor man, you know; my affairs are in confusion, and, besides, I am tired now of wandering from place to place. The time has come to rest.’
Natalya was surprised.
‘Is it possible you feel that it is time for you to rest?’ she asked him timidly.
Rudin turned so as to face Natalya.
‘What do you mean by that?’
‘I mean,’ she replied in some embarrassment, ‘that others may rest; but you . . . you ought to work, to try to be useful. Who, if not you———’
‘I thank you for your flattering opinion,’ Rudin interrupted her. ‘To be useful . . . it is easy to say!’ (He passed his hand over his face.) ‘To be useful!’ he repeated. ‘Even if I had any firm conviction, how could I be use-
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