A Gentleman in Moscow

by Amor Towles

Then she leaned back in her chair and appraised the Count in a manner acknowledging that she may have underestimated him. Now, when a man has been underestimated by a friend, he has some cause for taking offense—since it is our friends who should overestimate our capacities. They should have an exaggerated opinion of our moral fortitude, our aesthetic sensibilities, and our intellectual scope. Why, they should practically imagine us leaping through a window in the nick of time with the works of Shakespeare in one hand and a pistol in the other! But in this particular instance, the Count had to admit he had little grounds for taking offense. Because, for the life of him, he could not imagine from what dark corner of his adolescent mind this extraordinary fact had materialized. “Well,” said Nina, pointing to the stack of completed papers in front of the Count. “You’d better hand me those.”