Page:The Novels of Ivan Turgenev (volume XIV).djvu/124

Rh 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 thatspeaking?' she articulated slowlythrough her nose. Baburin moved slightly forward.

'Madam,' he began, 'it is II ventureI imagineI make bold to submit to your honour that you are making a mistake in acting asas 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 settlementfor 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