did, generous fellow he is!' Rudin declared, standing up.
'It is one of the best types of a Russian gentleman.'

Mlle, Boncourt gave him a sidelong look out of her little French eyes.

Rudin walked up and down the room.

'Have you noticed,' he began, turning sharply round on his heels, 'that
on the oak--and the oak is a strong tree--the old leaves only fall off
when the new leaves begin to grow?'

'Yes,' answered Natalya slowly, 'I have noticed it'

'That is what happens to an old love in a strong heart; it is dead
already, but still it holds its place; only another new love can drive
it out.'

Natalya made no reply.

'What does that mean?' she was thinking.

Rudin stood still, tossed his hair back, and walked away.

Natalya went to her own room. She sat a long while on her little bed in
perplexity, pondering over Rudin's last words. All at once she clasped
her hands and began to weep bitterly. What she was weeping for--who can
tell? She herself could not tell why her tears were falling so fast.
She dried them; but they flowed afresh, like water from a long-pent-up
source.

On this same day Alexandra Pavlovna had a conversation with Lezhnyov
about Rudin. At first he bore all her attacks in silence; but at last
she succeeded in rousing him into talk.

'I see,' she said to him, 'you dislike Dmitri Nikolaitch, as you did
before. I purposely refrained from questioning you till now; but now you
have had time to make up your mind whether there is any change in him,
and I want to know why you don't like him.'

'Very well,' answered Lezhnyov with his habitual phlegm, 'since your
patience is exhausted; only look here, don't get angry.'

'Come, begin, begin.'

'And let me have my say to the end.'

'Of course, of course; begin.'

'Very well,' said Lezhnyov, dropping lazily on to the sofa; 'I admit
that I certainly don't like Rudin. He is a clever fellow.'

'I should think so.'

'He is a remarkably clever man, though in reality essentially shallow.'

'It's easy to say that.'

'Though essentially shallow,' repeated Lezhnyov; 'but there's no great
harm in that; we are all shallow. I will not even quarrel with him for
being a tyrant at heart, lazy, ill-informed!'

Alexandra Pavlovna clasped her hands.

'Rudin--ill-informed!' she cried.

'Ill-informed!' repeated Lezhnyov in precisely the same voice, 'that he
likes to live at other people's expanse, to cut a good figure, and so
forth--all that's natural eno