Page 264 - the-idiot

talked to them about her brother. She had plenty of pride,
in spite of the fact that in thus acting she was seeking inti-
macy with people who had practically shown her brother
the door. She and the Epanchin girls had been acquainted
in childhood, although of late they had met but rarely. Even
now Varvara hardly ever appeared in the drawing-room,
but would slip in by a back way. Lizabetha Prokofievna,
who disliked Varvara, although she had a great respect for
her mother, was much annoyed by this sudden intimacy,
and put it down to the general ‘contrariness’ of her daugh-
ters, who were ‘always on the lookout for some new way of
opposing her.’ Nevertheless, Varvara continued her visits.
A month after Muishkin’s departure, Mrs. Epanchin
received a letter from her old friend Princess Bielokonski
(who had lately left for Moscow), which letter put her into
the greatest good humour. She did not divulge its contents
either to her daughters or the general, but her conduct to-
wards the former became affectionate in the extreme. She
even made some sort of confession to them, but they were
unable to understand what it was about. She actually relaxed
towards the general a little—he had been long disgraced—
and though she managed to quarrel with them all the next
day, yet she soon came round, and from her general behav-
iour it was to be concluded that she had bad good news of
some sort, which she would like, but could not make up her
mind, to disclose.
However, a week later she received another letter from
the same source, and at last resolved to speak.
She solemnly announced that she had heard from old