of anything--"

"I--not afraid of anything?" Paklin began.

"I wonder who could have betrayed Basanov? "Nejdanov continued.
"I simply can't understand!"

"A friend no doubt. Friends are great at that. One must look
alive! I once had a friend, who seemed a good fellow; he was
always concerned about me and my reputation. 'I say, what
dreadful stories are being circulated about you!' he would greet
me one day. 'They say that you poisoned your uncle and that on
one occasion, when you were introduced into a certain house, you
sat the whole evening with your back to the hostess and that she
was so upset that she cried at the insult! What awful nonsense!
What fools could possibly believe such things!' Well, and what do
you think? A year after I quarrelled with this same friend, and
in his farewell letter to me he wrote, 'You who killed your own
uncle! You who were not ashamed to insult an honourable lady by
sitting with your back to her,' and so on and so on. Here are
friends for you!"

Ostrodumov and Mashurina exchanged glances.

"Alexai Dmitritch!" Ostrodumov exclaimed in his heavy bass voice;
he was evidently anxious to avoid a useless discussion. "A letter
has come from Moscow, from Vassily Nikolaevitch."

Nejdanov trembled slightly and cast down his eyes.