My grandmother nodded her head up and down. . .
'Madam,' a hoarse almost stifled voice was heard suddenly. I looked round. Baburin's face was red. . . dark red; under his overhanging brows could be seen little sharp points of light. . . There was no doubt about it; it was he, it was Baburin, who had uttered the word 'Madam.'
My grandmother too looked round, and turned her eyeglass from Yermil to Baburin.
'Who is that. . .speaking?' she articulated slowly. . .through her nose. Baburin moved slightly forward.
'Madam,' he began, 'it is I. . .I venture. . .I imagine. . .I make bold to submit to your honour that you are making a mistake in acting as. . .as you are pleased to act at this moment.'
'That is?' my grandmother said, in the same voice, not removing her eyeglass.
'I take the liberty . . .' Baburin went on distinctly, uttering every word though with obvious effort—'I am referring to the case of this lad who is being sent away to a settlement. . .for no fault of his. Such arrangements, I venture to submit, lead to dissatisfaction, and to other—which God forbid!—consequences, and are nothing else than a transgression of the powers allowed to seignorial proprietors.'
'And where have you studied, pray?' my
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