on her lips.
“Oh, what are you doing?” cried Lise.
Alyosha was terribly abashed.
“Oh, forgive me if I shouldn’t. … Perhaps I’m awfully stupid. … You said I was cold, so I kissed you. … But I see it was stupid.”
Lise laughed, and hid her face in her hands. “And in that dress!” she ejaculated in the midst of her mirth. But she suddenly ceased laughing and became serious, almost stern.
“Alyosha, we must put off kissing. We are not ready for that yet, and we shall have a long time to wait,” she ended suddenly.
“Tell me rather why you who are so clever, so intellectual, so observant, choose a little idiot, an invalid like me? Ah, Alyosha, I am awfully happy, for I don’t deserve you a bit.”
“You do, Lise. I shall be leaving the monastery altogether in a few days. If I go into the world, I must marry. I know that. He told me to marry, too.