ate, ironical
lips and the strength, the tremendous strength, in his shoulders,
in his arms, in his chest, and the tenderness with which he had
looked at her watch that day.

"Well," she said, "it would have been all right. I would have married
him."

"Anna Akimovna," said Mishenka, coming noiselessly into the
drawing-room.

"How you frightened me!" she said, trembling all over. "What do you
want?"

"Anna Akimovna," he said, laying his hand on his heart and raising
his eyebrows, "you are my mistress and my benefactress, and no one
but you can tell me what I ought to do about marriage, for you are
as good as a mother to me. . . . But kindly forbid them to laugh
and jeer at me downstairs. They won't let me pass without it."

"How do they jeer at you?"

"They call me Mashenka's Mishenka."

"Pooh, what nonsense!" cried Anna Akimovna indignantly. "How stupid
you all are! What a stupid you are, Misha! How sick I am of you! I
can't bear the sight of you."

III

Dinner

Just as the year before, the last to pay her visits were Krylin,
an actual civil councillor, and Lysevitch, a well-known barrister.
It was already dark when they arrived. Krylin, a man of sixty, with
a wide mouth and with grey whiskers close to his ears, with a face
like a lynx, was wearing a uniform with an Anna ribbon, and white
trousers. He held Anna Akimovna's hand in both of his for a long
while, looked intently in her face, moved his lips, and at last
said, drawling upon one note:

"I used to respect your uncle . . . and your father, and enjoyed
the privilege of their friendship. Now I feel it an agreeable duty,
as you see, to present my Christmas wishes to their honoured heiress
in spite of my infirmities and the distance I have to come. . . .
And I am very glad to see you in good health."

The lawyer Lysevitch, a tall, handsome fair man, with a slight
sprinkling of grey on his temples and beard, was distinguished by
exceptionally elegant manners; he walked with a swaying step, bowed
as it were reluctantly, and shrugged his shoulders as he talked,
and all this with an indolent grace, like a spoiled horse fresh
from the stable. He was well fed, extremely healthy, and very well
off; on one occasion he had won forty thousand roubles, but concealed
the fact from his friends. He was fond of good fare, especially
cheese, truffles, and grated radish with hemp oil; while in Paris
he had eaten, so he said, baked but unwashed guts. He spoke smoot