ease me; and what is there to
rejoice about?"

"He does not please you?"

"Yes, he cannot fascinate everybody. It's enough that Nastasya Karpovna
here should be in love with him."

The poor widow was thoroughly startled.

"What makes you say that, Marfa Timofeevna? You do not fear God!"--she
exclaimed, and a blush instantly suffused her face and neck.

"And he certainly knows the rogue,"--Marfa Timofeevna interrupted
her:--"he knows how to captivate her: he presented her with a snuff-box.
Fedya, ask her to give thee a pinch of snuff; thou wilt see what a
splendid snuff-box it is: on the lid is depicted a hussar on horseback.
Thou hadst better not defend thyself, my mother."

Nastasya Karpovna merely repelled the suggestion with a wave of her
hands.

"Well,"--inquired Lavretzky,--"and is Liza not indifferent to him?"

"Apparently, she likes him,--however, the Lord only knows. Another man's
soul, thou knowest, is a dark forest, much more the soul of a young girl.
Now, there's Schurotchka's soul--try to dissect that! Why has she been
hiding herself, and yet does not go away, ever since thou camest?"

Schurotchka snorted with suppressed laughter and ran out of the room,
and Lavretzky rose from his seat.

"Yes,"--he said slowly:--"a maiden's soul is not to be divined."

He began to take leave.

"Well? Shall we see thee again soon?"--asked Marfa Timofeevna.

"That's as it may happen, aunty; it is not far off."

"Yes, but thou art going to Vasilievskoe. Thou wilt not live at
Lavriki:--well, that is thy affair; only, go and salute the tomb of thy
mother, and the tomb of thy grandmother too, by the bye. Thou hast
acquired all sorts of learning yonder abroad, and who knows, perchance
they will feel it in their graves that thou hast come to them. And don't
forget, Fedya, to have a requiem service celebrated for Glafira
Petrovna also; here's a silver ruble for thee. Take it, take it, I want
to pay for having a requiem service for her. During her lifetime I did
not like her, but there's no denying it, the woman had plenty of
character. She was a clever creature; and she did not wrong thee, either.
And now go, with God's blessing, or thou wilt grow weary of me."

And Marfa Timofeevna embraced her nephew.

"And Liza shall not marry Panshin,--don't worry about that; that's not
the sort of husband she deserves."

"Why, I am not worrying in the least," replied Lavretzky, and withdrew.

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[7] Ivan the Terrib