all the explanation
she deigned to offer.

Meanwhile, Totski thought the matter over as well as his scattered ideas
would permit. His meditations lasted a fortnight, however, and at the
end of that time his resolution was taken. The fact was, Totski was
at that time a man of fifty years of age; his position was solid and
respectable; his place in society had long been firmly fixed upon safe
foundations; he loved himself, his personal comforts, and his position
better than all the world, as every respectable gentleman should!

At the same time his grasp of things in general soon showed Totski that
he now had to deal with a being who was outside the pale of the ordinary
rules of traditional behaviour, and who would not only threaten mischief
but would undoubtedly carry it out, and stop for no one.

There was evidently, he concluded, something at work here; some storm of
the mind, some paroxysm of romantic anger, goodness knows against whom
or what, some insatiable contempt--in a word, something altogether
absurd and impossible, but at the same time most dangerous to be met
with by any respectable person with a position in society to keep up.

For a man of Totski's wealth and standing, it would, of course, have
been the simplest possible matter to take steps which would rid him at
once from all annoyance; while it was obviously impossible for Nastasia
Philipovna to harm him in any way, either legally or by stirring up a
scandal, for, in case of the latter danger, he could so easily remove
her to a sphere of safety. However, these arguments would only hold good
in case of Nastasia acting as others might in such an emergency. She was
much more likely to overstep the bounds of reasonable conduct by some
extraordinary eccentricity.

Here the sound judgment of Totski stood him in good stead. He realized
that Nastasia Philipovna must be well aware that she could do nothing
by legal means to injure him, and that her flashing eyes betrayed some
entirely different intention.

Nastasia Philipovna was quite capable of ruining herself, and even of
perpetrating something which would send her to Siberia, for the mere
pleasure of injuring a man for whom she had developed so inhuman a sense
of loathing and contempt. He had sufficient insight to understand that
she valued nothing in the world--herself least of all--and he made no
attempt to conceal the fact that he was a coward in some respects. For
instance, if he had been told tha