want you to marry Luzhin... His talk was altogether rather muddled.”

“How do you explain him to yourself, Rodya? How did he strike you?”

“I must confess I don’t quite understand him. He offers you ten thousand, and yet says he is not well off. He says he is going away, and in ten minutes he forgets he has said it. Then he says he is going to be married and has already fixed on the girl... No doubt he has a motive, and probably a bad one. But it’s odd that he should be so clumsy about it if he had any designs against you... Of course, I refused this money on your account, once for all. Altogether, I thought him very strange... One might almost think he was mad. But I may be mistaken; that may only be the part he assumes. The death of Marfa Petrovna seems