RUDIN
position, staring sullenly at Rudin, and sometimes pulling the ends of his moustache.
‘If you would kindly . . . I came here to make an explanation, certainly, but all the same it cannot be done off-hand.’
‘Why not?’
‘A third person is involved in this matter.’
‘What third person?’
‘Sergeï Pavlitch, you understand me?’
‘Dmitri Nikolaitch, I don’t understand you in the least.’
‘You prefer———’
‘I prefer you should speak plainly!’ broke in Volintsev.
He was beginning to be angry in earnest.
Rudin frowned.
‘Permit . . . we are alone . . . I must tell you—though you certainly are aware of it already (Volintsev shrugged his shoulders impatiently)—I must tell you that I love Natalya Alexyevna, and I have the right to believe that she loves me.’
Volintsev turned white, but made no reply. He walked to the window and stood with his back turned.
152
