0 The Brothers KaramazovPole, who was staring insolently and defiantly at the com-
pany and listening to the conversation with silent contempt,
still only impressed Mitya by his great height, which was in
striking contrast to the Pole on the sofa. ‘If he stood up he’d
be six foot three.’ The thought flitted through Mitya’s mind.
It occurred to him, too, that this Pole must be the friend of
the other, as it were, a ‘bodyguard,’ and no doubt the big
Pole was at the disposal of the little Pole with the pipe. But
this all seemed to Mitya perfectly right and not to be ques-
tioned. In his mood of doglike submissiveness all feeling of
rivalry had died away.
Grushenka’s mood and the enigmatic tone of some of her
words he completely failed to grasp. All he understood, with
thrilling heart, was that she was kind to him, that she had
forgiven him, and made him sit by her. He was beside him-
self with delight, watching her sip her glass of champagne.
The silence of the company seemed somehow to strike him,
however, and he looked round at everyone with expectant
eyes.
‘Why are we sitting here though, gentlemen? Why don’t
you begin doing something?’ his smiling eyes seemed to
ask.
‘He keeps talking nonsense, and we were all laughing,’
Kalgonov began suddenly, as though divining his thought,
and pointing to Maximov.
Mitya immediately stared at Kalgonov and then at Maxi-
mov
‘He’s talking nonsense?’ he laughed, his short, wooden
laugh, seeming suddenly delighted at something — ‘ha ha!’