"You really came for that?"
"Yes, why not? They ought not to stop her, tell them!"
"Ah, you people!" cried Ilya, trying to think what he could do for Masha.
Matiza rose from her chair, and shuffled carefully over the floor. She sighed and groaned, and she was not like a human being walking, but like an old, decayed tree falling slowly down.
"Good-bye! We shan't meet again! I shall soon die," she murmured. "Thank you, thank you, my fine, trim fellow! Thank you!"
As soon as she was gone, Tatiana hurried into Ilya's room, embraced him, and asked smiling:
"That's the one—your first love, eh?"
"Who?" asked Ilya slowly, absorbed in memories of Masha.
"That horror——"
Ilya unclasped her hands from his neck, and said moodily: