"I will, certainly."
"When I saw you, I said 'that's the man for me, he'll help me, save me.'"
"Lipa," said Ilya gently.
She sat motionless and did not answer.
"Lipa," he repeated, and then with a sense as of hurling himself into an abyss, he said slowly, clearly:
"I did strangle the old man, by God!"
She shuddered, lifted her head and looked at him with wide eyes. Her lips began to tremble and she stammered:
"Silly boy, how frightened you are!"
Ilya understood that it was she who felt the fear, and did not want to believe his words. He got up, moved nearer, and sat down beside her, smiling vaguely. She caught his head to her breast, and whispered in her deep voice, as she kissed his hair: "Ilushka! Ilushka! Why do you hurt me so? I was so glad you killed him, the old sneak."
"Yes, I did it," he said, and nodded his head.