“But,” Valentina Mihailovna remarked, “I don’t know myself what are these animals!”
“Madame!” Kollomietzev exclaimed, “there is no necessity for you to know!”
“Then why should the peasants know?”
“Because it is better for them to know about these animals than about Proudhon or Adam Smith!”
Here Sipiagin again intervened, saying that Adam Smith was one of the leading lights in human thought, and that it would be well to imbibe his principles (he poured himself out a glass of wine) with the (he lifted the glass to his nose and sniffed at it) mother’s milk! He swallowed the wine. Kollomietzev also drank a glass and praised it highly.
Markelov payed no special attention to Kollomietzev’s talk, but glanced interrogatively at Nejdanov once or twice; he flicked one of his little bread pills, which just missed the nose of the eloquent guest.
Sipiagin left his brother-in-law in peace; neither did Valentina Mihailovna speak to him; it was evident that both husband and wife considered Markelov an eccentric sort of person whom it was better not to provoke.
After dinner Markelov went into the billiard room to smoke a pipe, and Nejdanov withdrew into his own room.
In the corridor he ran against Mariana. He wanted to slip past her, when she stopped him with a quick movement of the hand.
“Mr. Nejdanov,” she said in a somewhat unsteady tone of voice, “it ought to be all the same to me what you think of me, but still I find it ... I find it ...” (she could not think of a fitting word) “I find it necessary to tell you that when you met me in the wood today with Mr. Markelov ... you must no doubt have thought, when you saw us both confused, that we had come there by appointment.”