, told her
that in almost all the churches they were offering up prayers for
her that day. She had been conspicuous for her benevolence in the
town, and was liked. She was very ready with her charity, like her
brother Alexey, who gave away his money freely, without considering
whether it was necessary to give it or not. Nina Fyodorovna used
to pay the school fees for poor children; used to give away tea,
sugar, and jam to old women; used to provide trousseaux for poor
brides; and if she picked up a newspaper, she always looked first
of all to see if there were any appeals for charity or a paragraph
about somebody's being in a destitute condition.

She was holding now in her hand a bundle of notes, by means of which
various poor people, her proteges, had procured goods from a grocer's
shop.

They had been sent her the evening before by the shopkeeper with a
request for the payment of the total--eighty-two roubles.

"My goodness, what a lot they've had! They've no conscience!" she
said, deciphering with difficulty her ugly handwriting. "It's no
joke! Eighty-two roubles! I declare I won't pay it."

"I'll pay it to-day," said Laptev.

"Why should you? Why should you?" cried Nina Fyodorovna in agitation.
"It's quite enough for me to take two hundred and fifty every month
from you and our brother. God bless you!" she added, speaking softly,
so as not to be overheard by the servants.

"Well, but I spend two thousand five hundred a month," he said. "I
tell you again, dear: you have just as much right to spend it as I
or Fyodor. Do understand that, once for all. There are three of us,
and of every three kopecks of our father's money, one belongs to
you."

But Nina Fyodorovna did not understand, and her expression looked
as though she were mentally solving some very difficult problem.
And this lack of comprehension in pecuniary matters, always made
Laptev feel uneasy and troubled. He suspected that she had private
debts in addition which worried her and of which she scrupled to
tell him.

Then came the sound of footsteps and heavy breathing; it was the
doctor coming up the stairs, dishevelled and unkempt as usual.

"Ru-ru-ru," he was humming. "Ru-ru."

To avoid meeting him, Laptev went into the dining-room, and then
went downstairs to his own room. It was clear to him that to get
on with the doctor and to drop in at his house without formalities
was impossible; and to meet the "old brute," as Panaurov called
him, w