Book 2 Chapter 2 Efforts at Land Restoration

"No, I think I had better go and see them at once," said
Nekhludoff, with an unexpected feeling of shyness and shame at
the thought of the conversation he was going to have with the
peasants. He was going to fulfil a wish of the peasants, the
fulfilment of which they did not even dare to hope for--to let
the land to them at a low price, i.e., to confer a great boon;
and yet he felt ashamed of something. When Nekhludoff came up to
the peasants, and the fair, the curly, the bald, the grey heads
were bared before him, he felt so confused that he could say
nothing. The rain continued to come down in small drops, that
remained on the hair, the beards, and the fluff of the men's
rough coats. The peasants looked at "the master," waiting for him
to speak, and he was so abashed that he could not speak. This
confused silence was broken by the sedate, self-assured German
steward, who considered himself a good judge of the Russian
peasant, and who spoke Russian remarkably well. This strong,
over-fed man, and Nekhludoff himself, presented a striking
contrast to the peasants, with their thin, wrinkled faces and the
shoulder blades protruding beneath their coarse coats.

"Here's the Prince wanting to do you a favor, and to let the land
to you; only you are not worthy of it," said the steward.

"How are we not worthy of it, Vasili Karlovitch? Don't we work
for you? We were well satisfied with the deceased lady--God have
mercy on her soul--and the young Prince will not desert us now.
Our thanks to him," said a redhaired, talkative peasant.