n I've met who has known her
personally; and if only..."

"What nonsense!" the engineer snapped out, flushing all over. "How you
add to things, Liputin! I've not seen Shatov's wife; I've only once seen
her in the distance and not at all close.... I know Shatov. Why do you
add things of all sorts?"

He turned round sharply on the sofa, clutched his hat, then laid it down
again, and settling himself down once more as before, fixed his angry
black eyes on Stepan Trofimovitch with a sort of defiance. I was at a
loss to understand such strange irritability.

"Excuse me," Stepan Trofimovitch observed impressively. "I understand
that it may be a very delicate subject...."

"No sort of delicate subject in it, and indeed it's shameful, and I
didn't shout at you that it's nonsense, but at Liputin, because he adds
things. Excuse me if you took it to yourself. I know Shatov, but I don't
know his wife at all... I don't know her at all!"

"I understand. I understand. And if I insisted, it's only because I'm
very fond of our poor friend, _notre irascible ami_, and have always
taken an interest in him.... In my opinion that man changed his former,
possibly over-youthful but yet sound ideas, too abruptly. And now he
says all sorts of things about _notre Sainte Russie_ to such a degree that
I've long explained this upheaval in his whole constitution, I can only
call it that, to some violent shock in his family life, and, in fact, to
his unsuccessful marriage. I, who know my poor Russia like the fingers
on my hand, and have devoted my whole life to the Russian people, I can
assure you that he does not know the Russian people, and what's more..."

"I don't know the Russian people at all, either, and I haven't time to
study them," the engineer snapped out again, and again he turned sharply
on the sofa. Stepan Trofimovitch was pulled up in the middle of his
speech.

"He is studying them, he is studying them," interposed Liputin. "He
has already begun the study of them, and is writing a very interesting
article dealing with the causes of the increase of suicide in Russia,
and, generally speaking, the causes that lead to the increase or
decrease of suicide in society. He has reached amazing results."

The engineer became dreadfully excited. "You have no right at all," he
muttered wrathfully. "I'm not writing an article. I'm not going to do
silly things. I asked you confidentially, quite by chance. There's
no article at all. I'm not pu