"You have been told!" put in Krasavin roughly and sharply.

"I don't understand," Maklakov declared calmly.

"You?" shouted Sasha. "You lie! You do understand!"

"No."

"And I say you do, but you're a coward, you're a nobleman—and—and—and I know you."

"Maybe," said Maklakov. "But do you know what you want?" He spoke in so cold a tone, and put so much significance into his voice, that Yevsey trembled and thought:

"Will Sasha strike him?"

Sasha, however, merely repeated the question in a screeching voice:

"I? Do I know what I want?"

"Yes."