Pagina 873 di 1294

Sonia sat down hurriedly. Her eyes rested again for an instant on

the grey-and-rainbow-coloured notes that remained on the table,

but she quickly looked away and fixed her eyes on Pyotr

Petrovitch. She felt it horribly indecorous, especially for her,

to look at another person's money. She stared at the gold

eye-glass which Pyotr Petrovitch held in his left hand and at the

massive and extremely handsome ring with a yellow stone on his

middle finger. But suddenly she looked away and, not knowing

where to turn, ended by staring Pyotr Petrovitch again straight

in the face. After a pause of still greater dignity he continued.

"I chanced yesterday in passing to exchange a couple of words

with Katerina Ivanovna, poor woman. That was sufficient to enable

me to ascertain that she is in a position--preternatural, if one

may so express it."

"Yes... preternatural..." Sonia hurriedly assented.

"Or it would be simpler and more comprehensible to say, ill."

"Yes, simpler and more comprehen... yes, ill."