ter I must go and see
him about some books and pamphlets. He promised to give me some, but
evidently forgot to do so before I left."

"And do you think, Aliosha, that when he gave you this portrait he
renounced everything... absolutely everything?"

"I think so."

"Do you think you will find him at home?"

"Of course."

"Ah!" Mariana lowered her eyes and dropped her hands at her sides. "But
here comes Tatiana with our dinner," she exclaimed suddenly. "Isn't she
a dear!"

Tatiana appeared with the knives and forks, serviettes, plates and
dishes. While laying the table she related all the news about the
factory. "The master came from Moscow by rail and started running from
floor to floor like a madman. Of course he doesn't understand anything
and does it only for show--to set an example so to speak. Vassily
Fedotitch treats him like a child. The master wanted to make some
unpleasantness, but Vassily Fedotitch soon shut him up. 'I'll throw
it up this minute,' he said, so he soon began to sing small. They are
having dinner now. The master brought someone with him. A Moscow swell
who does nothing but admire everything. He must be very rich, I think,
by the way he holds his tongue and shakes his head. And so stout, very
stout! A real swell! No wonder there's a saying that 'Moscow lies at the
foot of Russia and everything rolls down to her.'"

"How you notice everything!" Mariana exclaimed.

"Yes, I do rather," Tatiana observed. "Well, here is your dinner. Come
and have it and I'll sit and look at you for a little while."

Mariana and Nejdanov sat down to table, whilst Tatiana sat down on the
window-sill and rested her cheek in her hand.

"I watch you..." she observed. "And what dear, young, tender creatures
you are. You're so nice to look at that it quite makes my heart ache.
Ah, my dear! You are taking a heavier burden on your shoulders than you
can bear. It's people like you that the tsar's folk are ready to put
into prison."

"Nothing of the kind. Don't frighten us," Nejdanov remarked. "You know
the old saying, 'As you make your bed so you must lie on it.'"

"Yes, I know. But the beds are so narrow nowadays that you can't get out
of them!"

"Have you any children?" Mariana asked to change the subject.

"Yes, I have a boy. He goes to school now. I had a girl too, but she's
gone, the little bird! An accident happened to her. She fell under a
wheel. If only it had killed her at once! But no, she suffered a l