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Rh him, Kirsánof would have told me so. Is it possible that he didn't please him? What can there be that Kirsánof disliked in him?" When the "bridegroom" came in the evening, she scrutinized his behavior, she pondered over his words. She said to herself, "What is he doing this for," in order to convince herself that Kirsánof had no right or reason in finding any blemish in him. And she did convince herself; but the necessity of proving to yourself that there are no blemishes in the being you love leads to the quick discovery of such blemishes.

After a few days Kirsánof called again, and again he said not a word about his impression of the "bridegroom"; but this time she could not restrain herself, and at the end of the evening, she said:—

"Your opinion? Why are you so silent?"

"I am afraid that you won't enjoy hearing my opinion; I am afraid that you will think that I am partial."

"Don't you like him?"

Kirsánof did not reply.

"You don't like him, do you?"

"I did not say so."

"It is evident. Why don't you like him?"

"I am going to wait till it is also evident to you why I don't like him."

On the following evening Katerina Vasílyevna began to scrutinize Sólovtsof still more particularly. "Everything about him is lovely. Kirsánof is not fair; but why can't I see what there is in him that Kirsánof does not like?" She was vexed at her inability to observe. She asked herself, "Am I really so simple?" Her self-respect was aroused in her in a direction most dangerous for her bridegroom.

When Kirsánof came again a few days later, he perceived the possibility of acting more energetically. Till now he had avoided talk with Sólovtsof, in order to avoid stirring up Katerina Vasílyevna by a premature interference; now he joined the group surrounding her and Sólovtsof, and led the conversations to topics in which Sólovtsof's character would be shown forth as soon as he was drawn into the current. The conversation turned on riches, and it appeared to Katerina Vasílyevna that Sólovtsof was greatly interested in riches. The conversation turned upon "bridegrooms," and it seemed to her that Sólovtsof spoke rather