enly burst
out laughing, and had put a strange question to him. She asked him
whether he would consent to hold his finger to a lighted candle in proof
of his devotion! Gania--it was said--looked so comically bewildered that
Aglaya had almost laughed herself into hysterics, and had rushed out of
the room and upstairs,--where her parents had found her.

Hippolyte told the prince this last story, sending for him on purpose.
When Muishkin heard about the candle and Gania's finger he had laughed
so that he had quite astonished Hippolyte,--and then shuddered and burst
into tears. The prince's condition during those days was strange and
perturbed. Hippolyte plainly declared that he thought he was out of his
mind;--this, however, was hardly to be relied upon.

Offering all these facts to our readers and refusing to explain them,
we do not for a moment desire to justify our hero's conduct. On the
contrary, we are quite prepared to feel our share of the indignation
which his behaviour aroused in the hearts of his friends. Even Vera
Lebedeff was angry with him for a while; so was Colia; so was Keller,
until he was selected for best man; so was Lebedeff himself,--who began
to intrigue against him out of pure irritation;--but of this anon. In
fact we are in full accord with certain forcible words spoken to the
prince by Evgenie Pavlovitch, quite unceremoniously, during the course
of a friendly conversation, six or seven days after the events at
Nastasia Philipovna's house.

We may remark here that not only the Epanchins themselves, but all who
had anything to do with them, thought it right to break with the prince
in consequence of his conduct. Prince S. even went so far as to turn
away and cut him dead in the street. But Evgenie Pavlovitch was not
afraid to compromise himself by paying the prince a visit, and did so,
in spite of the fact that he had recommenced to visit at the Epanchins',
where he was received with redoubled hospitality and kindness after the
temporary estrangement.

Evgenie called upon the prince the day after that on which the Epanchins
left Pavlofsk. He knew of all the current rumours,--in fact, he had
probably contributed to them himself. The prince was delighted to see
him, and immediately began to speak of the Epanchins;--which simple and
straightforward opening quite took Evgenie's fancy, so that he melted at
once, and plunged in medias res without ceremony.

The prince did not know, up to this, that th