Her face suddenly showed fright. Her squinting eyes became fixed, and they looked and did not look at him.
"What is that for?" And she frowned maliciously.
"I feel that before God I must do it."
"What God, now, are you talking about? You are not talking to the point. God? What God? Why didn't you think of God then?" she said, and opening her mouth, stopped short.
Nekhludoff only now smelled a strong odor of liquor and understood the cause of her excitement.
"Be calm," he said.
"I have nothing to be calm about. You think I am drunk? Yes, I am drunk, but I know what I am talking about," she said quickly, and her face became purple. "I am a convict, while you are a lord, a prince, and needn't stay here to soil your hands. Go to your princesses——"
"You cannot be too cruel to me; you do not know how I feel," he said in a low voice, his whole body trembling. "You cannot imagine how strongly I feel my guilt before you!"
"Feel my guilt," she mocked him maliciously. "You did not feel it then, but thrust a hundred rubles in my hands. 'That's your price——'"
"I know, I know, but what am I to do now? I have decided not to leave you," he repeated; "and what I say I will do."