Muishkinsaidatlast,withsomeimpatience."Itwasnotasshesaid?""ButIaskyou,mydearsir,howcantherebeanythingincommonbetweenEvgeniePavlovitch,and--her,andagainRogojin?Itellyouheisamanofimmensewealth--asIknowforafact;andhehasfurtherexpectationsfromhisuncle.SimplyNastasiaPhilipovna--"PrinceS.paused"Thenatalleventsheknowsher!"remarkedtheprince,afteramoment&39;ssilence."Oh,thatmaybe.Hemayhaveknownhersometimeago--twoorthreeyears,atleast.HeusedtoknowTotski.Butitisimpossiblethatthereshouldbeanyintimacybetweenthem.Shehasnotevenbeenintheplace--manypeopledon&39;tevenknowthatshehasreturnedfromMoscow!Ihaveonlyobservedhercarriageaboutforthelastthreedaysorso.""It&39;salovelycarriage,"saidAdelaida."Yes,itwasabeautifulturn-out,certainlyTheyouthremainedawholeyearwiththethirdmasteralso,andwhenhe!"Thevisitorsleftthehouse,however,onnolessfriendlytermsthanbefore.Butthevisitwasofthegreatestimportancetotheprince,fromhisownpointofview.Admittingthathehadhissuspicions,fromthemomentoftheoccurrenceoflastnight,perhapsevenbefore,thatNastasiahadsomemysteriousendinview,yetthisvisitconfirmedhissuspicionsandjustifiedhisfears.Itwasallcleartohim;PrinceS.waswrong,perhaps,inhisviewofthematter,buthewassomewherenearthetruth,andwasrightinsofarasthatheunderstoodtheretobeanintrigueofsomesortgoingon.PerhapsPrinceS.sawitallmoreclearlythanhehadallowedhishearerstounderstand.Atallevents,nothingcouldbeplainerthanthatheandAdelaidahadcomefortheexpresspurposeofobtainingexplanations,andthattheysuspectedhimofbeingconcernedintheaffair.Andifallthiswereso,thenSHEmusthavesometerribleobjectinview!Whatwasit?TherewasnostoppingHER,asMuishkinknewfromexperience,intheperformanceofanythingshehadsethermindon!"Oh,sheismad,mad!"thoughtthepoorprince.Butthereweremanyotherpuzzlingoccurrencesthatday,whichrequiredimmediateexplanation,andtheprincefeltverysad.AvisitfromVeraLebedeffdistractedhimalittle.ShebroughttheinfantLubotchkawithherasusual,andtalkedcheerfullyforsometime.Thencameheryoungersister,andlaterthebrother,whoattendedaschoolcloseby.HeinformedMuishkinthathisfatherhadlatelyfoundanewinterpretationofthestarcalled"wormwood,"whichfelluponthewater-springs,asdescribedintheApocalypse.HehaddecidedthatitmeantthenetworkofrailroadsspreadoverthefaceofEuropeatthepresenttime.TheprincerefusedtobelievethatLebedeffcouldhavegivensuchaninterpretation,andtheydecidedtoaskhimaboutitattheearliestopportunity.VerarelatedhowKellerhadtakenuphisabodewiththemonthepreviousevening.Shethoughthewouldremainforsometime,ashewasgreatlypleasedwiththesocietyofGeneralIvolginandofthewholefamily.Buthedeclaredthathehadonlycometotheminordertocompletehiseducation!TheprincealwaysenjoyedthecompanyofLebedeff&39;schildren,andtodayitwasespeciallywelcome,forColiadidnotappearallday.EarlythatmorninghehadstartedforPetersburg.Lebedeffalsowasawayonbusiness.ButGavrilaArdalionovitchhadpromisedtovisitMuishkin,whoeagerlyawaitedhiscoming.Aboutsevenintheevening,soonafterdinner,hearrived.Atthefirstglanceitstrucktheprincethathe,atanyrate,mustknowallthedetailsoflastnight&39;saffair.Indeed,itwouldhavebeenimpossibleforhimtoremaininignoranceconsideringtheintimaterelationshipbetweenhim,VarvaraArdalionovna,andPtitsin.Butalthoughheandtheprincewereintimate,inasense,andalthoughthelatterhadplacedtheBurdovskyaffairinhishands-andthiswasnottheonlymarkofconfidencehehadreceived--itseemedcurioushowmanymatterstherewerethatweretacitlyavoidedintheirconversations.MuishkinthoughtthatGaniaattimesappearedtodesiremorecordialityandfrankness.Itwasapparentnow,whenheentered,thathe,wasconvincedthatthemomentforbreakingtheicebetweenthemhadcomeatlast.
