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many honours and had the Anna Order on his breast. He
compromised the girl by his promise of marriage, now she
is an orphan and here; she is betrothed to him, yet before
her very eyes he is dancing attendance on a certain en-
chantress. And although this enchantress has lived in, so
to speak, civil marriage with a respectable man, yet she is of
an independent character, an unapproachable fortress for
everybody, just like a legal wife — for she is virtuous, yes,
holy Fathers, she is virtuous. Dmitri Fyodorovitch wants
to open this fortress with a golden key, and that’s why he is
insolent to me now, trying to get money from me, though
he has wasted thousands on this enchantress already. He’s
continually borrowing money for the purpose. From whom
do you think? Shall I say, Mitya?’
‘Be silent!’ cried Dmitri, ‘wait till I’m gone. Don’t dare
in my presence to asperse the good name of an honourable
girl! That you should utter a word about her is an outrage,
and I won’t permit it!’ He was breathless.
He was breathless. ‘Mitya! Mitya!’ cried Fyodor Pavlov-
itch hysterically, squeezing out a tear. ‘And is your father’s
blessing nothing to you? If I curse you, what then?’
‘Shameless hypocrite! ‘exclaimed Dmitri furiously.
‘He says that to his father! his father What would he be
with others? Gentlemen, only fancy; there’s a poor but hon-
ourable man living here, burdened with a numerous family,
a captain who got into trouble and was discharged from the
army, but not publicly, not by court-martial, with no slur on
his honour. And three weeks ago, Dmitri seized him by the
beard in a tavern, dragged him out into the street and beat