“Then you have no one, absolutely no one in Russia?” he asked.

“No one, at present; but I hope to make friends; and then I have a letter from⁠—”

“At all events,” put in the general, not listening to the news about the letter, “at all events, you must have learned something , and your malady would not prevent your undertaking some easy work, in one of the departments, for instance?”

“Oh dear no, oh no! As for a situation, I should much like to find one for I am anxious to discover what I really am fit for. I have learned a good deal in the last four years, and, besides, I read a great many Russian books.”

“Russian books, indeed? Then, of course, you can read and write quite correctly?”

“Oh dear, yes!”