He did not think it was there; he thought that Lotta was wrong, and that all the Zamenoys were wrong, by some mistake which he could not fathom; but still there was the chance, and Nina must be made to bear this additional calamity.
"Do you think it impossible," said he, "that you should have it among your own things ?" "What! without knowing that I have it ?" she asked.
"It may have come to you with other papers," he said, "and you may not quite have understood its nature." "There, in that desk, is every paper that I have in the world.

You can look if you suspect me.

But I shall not easily forgive you for looking." Then she threw down the key of her desk upon the table.

He took it up and fingered it, but did not move towards the desk.

"The greatest treasure there," she said, "are scraps of your own, which I have been a fool to value, as they have come from a man who does not trust me." He knew that it would be useless for him to open the desk.