‘I am to blame towards you——’ she began.
‘Ah, at last!’
‘I am to blame towards you,’ pursued Elena, ‘for not having long ago confessed——’
‘But do you know,’ Nikolai Artemyevitch interrupted, ‘that I can crush you with one word?’
Elena raised her eyes to look at him.
‘Yes, madam, with one word! It’s useless to look at me!’ (He crossed his arms on his breast.) ‘Allow me to ask you, do you know a certain house near Povarsky? Have you visited that house?’ (He stamped.) ‘Answer me, worthless girl, and don’t try to hide the truth. People, people, servants, madam, de vils laquais have seen you, as you went in there, to your——’
Elena was crimson, her eyes were blazing.
‘I have no need to hide anything,’ she declared. ‘Yes, I have visited that house.’
‘Exactly! Do you hear, do you hear, Anna Vassilyevna? And you know, I presume, who lives there?’
‘Yes, I know; my husband.’