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"I say, brother," he said suddenly, addressing Razumihin, with a

sly smile, "I have been noticing all day that you seem to be

curiously excited. Isn't it so?"

"Excited? Not a bit of it," said Razumihin, stung to the quick.

"Yes, brother, I assure you it's noticeable. Why, you sat on your

chair in a way you never do sit, on the edge somehow, and you

seemed to be writhing all the time. You kept jumping up for

nothing. One moment you were angry, and the next your face looked

like a sweetmeat. You even blushed; especially when you were

invited to dinner, you blushed awfully."

"Nothing of the sort, nonsense! What do you mean?"

"But why are you wriggling out of it, like a schoolboy? By Jove,

there he's blushing again."

"What a pig you are!"

"But why are you so shamefaced about it? Romeo! Stay, I'll tell

of you to-day. Ha-ha-ha! I'll make mother laugh, and someone

else, too..."