10 The Brothers Karamazovduty to show his respect and good intentions.
Although Fyodor Pavlovitch was taken unawares, he
was equal to the occasion. In response to Dmitri’s bow he
jumped up from his chair and made his son a bow as low
in return. His face was suddenly solemn and impressive,
which gave him a positively malignant look. Dmitri bowed
generally to all present, and without a word walked to the
window with his long, resolute stride, sat down on the only
empty chair, near Father Paissy, and, bending forward, pre-
pared to listen to the conversation he had interrupted.
Dmitri’s entrance had taken no more than two minutes,
and the conversation was resumed. But this time Miusov
thought it unnecessary to reply to Father Paissy’s persistent
and almost irritable question.
‘Allow me to withdraw from this discussion,’ he observed
with a certain well-bred nonchalance. ‘It’s a subtle question,
too. Here Ivan Fyodorovitch is smiling at us. He must have
something interesting to say about that also. Ask him.’
‘Nothing special, except one little remark,’ Ivan replied
at once. ‘European Liberals in general, and even our liberal
dilettanti, often mix up the final results of socialism with
those of Christianity. This wild notion is, of course, a char-
acteristic feature. But it’s not only Liberals and dilettanti
who mix up socialism and Christianity, but, in many cases,
it appears, the police — the foreign police, of course — do
the same. Your Paris anecdote is rather to the point, Pyotr
Alexandrovitch.’
‘I ask your permission to drop this subject altogether,’
Miusov repeated. ‘I will tell you instead, gentlemen, an-