en the
meeting without loss of time, Liza's musical voice, intentionally loud,
was heard. She called to Stavrogin.

"Nikolay Vsyevolodovitch, a captain who calls himself a relation of
yours, the brother of your wife, and whose name is Lebyadkin, keeps
writing impertinent letters to me, complaining of you and offering to
tell me some secrets about you. If he really is a connection of yours,
please tell him not to annoy me, and save me from this unpleasantness."

There was a note of desperate challenge in these words--every one
realised it. The accusation was unmistakable, though perhaps it was a
surprise to herself. She was like a man who shuts his eyes and throws
himself from the roof.

But Nikolay Stavrogin's answer was even more astounding.

To begin with, it was strange that he was not in the least surprised and
listened to Liza with unruffled attention. There was no trace of either
confusion or anger in his face. Simply, firmly, even with an air of
perfect readiness, he answered the fatal question:

"Yes, I have the misfortune to be connected with that man. I have been
the husband of his sister for nearly five years. You may be sure I will
give him your message as soon as possible, and I'll answer for it that
he shan't annoy you again."

I shall never forget the horror that was reflected on the face of
Varvara Petrovna. With a distracted air she got up from her seat,
lifting up her right hand as though to ward off a blow. Nikolay
Vsyevolodovitch looked at her, looked at Liza, at the spectators, and
suddenly smiled with infinite disdain; he walked deliberately out of the
room. Every one saw how Liza leapt up from the sofa as soon as he
turned to go and unmistakably made a movement to run after him. But she
controlled herself and did not run after him; she went quietly out of
the room without saying a word or even looking at anyone, accompanied,
of course, by Mavriky Nikolaevitch, who rushed after her.

The uproar and the gossip that night in the town I will not attempt to
describe. Varvara Petrovna shut herself up in her town house and Nikolay
Vsyevolodovitch, it was said, went straight to Skvoreshniki without
seeing his mother. Stepan Trofimovitch sent me that evening to _cette
chere amie_ to implore her to allow him to come to her, but she would not
see me. He was terribly overwhelmed; he shed tears. "Such a marriage!
Such a marriage! Such an awful thing in the family!" he kept repeating.
He remembered Karm