第373页 / 共1294页

"Perhaps it's that gentleman, Pyotr Petrovitch. From his

conversation I gather he is going to marry his sister, and that

he had received a letter about it just before his illness...."

"Yes, confound the man! he may have upset the case altogether.

But have you noticed, he takes no interest in anything, he does

not respond to anything except one point on which he seems

excited--that's the murder?"

"Yes, yes," Razumihin agreed, "I noticed that, too. He is

interested, frightened. It gave him a shock on the day he was ill

in the police office; he fainted."

"Tell me more about that this evening and I'll tell you something

afterwards. He interests me very much! In half an hour I'll go

and see him again.... There'll be no inflammation though."

"Thanks! And I'll wait with Pashenka meantime and will keep watch

on him through Nastasya...."

Raskolnikov, left alone, looked with impatience and misery at

Nastasya, but she still lingered.

"Won't you have some tea now?" she asked.