Kiríllovna stared intently at him.
"Do you wish to see the mistress, Akím Semyónitch?"—she began.
He merely nodded his head.
"That is impossible, Akím Semyónitch. And what is the use? What is done can't be undone, and you will only worry her. She cannot receive you now, Akím Semyónitch."
"She cannot,"—he repeated, and paused for a space.—"Then how is it to be,"—he said at last;—"that means that I must lose my house?"
"Hearken, Akím Semyónitch. I know that you have always been a reasonable man. This is the mistress's will. And it cannot be changed. You cannot alter it. There is nothing for you and me to discuss, for it will lead to no result. Is n't that so?"
Akím put his hands behind his back.
"But you had better consider,"—went on Kiríllovna,—"whether you ought not to ask the mistress to remit your quit-rent, had n't you?..."
"That means that I must lose the house,"—repeated Akím, in the same tone as before.
"Akím Semyónitch, I 've told you already 't is impossible to change that. You know that yourself even better than I do."