Page 567 - the-idiot

Hippolyte glanced at him suddenly, and when their eye,
met Rogojin showed his teeth in a disagreeable smile, and
said the following strange words: ‘That’s not the way to set-
tle this business, my friend; that’s not the way at all.’
Of course nobody knew what Rogojin meant by this;
but his words made a deep impression upon all. Everyone
seemed to see in a flash the same idea.
As for Hippolyte, their effect upon him was astound-
ing. He trembled so that the prince was obliged to support
him, and would certainly have cried out, but that his voice
seemed to have entirely left him for the moment. For a min-
ute or two he could not speak at all, but panted and stared
at Rogojin. At last he managed to ejaculate:
‘Then it was YOU who came—YOU—YOU?’
‘Came where? What do you mean?’ asked Rogojin,
amazed. But Hippolyte, panting and choking with excite-
ment, interrupted him violently.
‘YOU came to me last week, in the night, at two o’clock,
the day I was with you in the morning! Confess it was you!’
‘Last week? In the night? Have you gone cracked, my
good friend?’
Hippolyte paused and considered a moment. Then a
smile of cunning—almost triumph—crossed his lips.
‘It was you,’ he murmured, almost in a whisper, but with
absolute conviction. ‘Yes, it was you who came to my room
and sat silently on a chair at my window for a whole hour—
more! It was between one and two at night; you rose and
went out at about three. It was you, you! Why you should
have frightened me so, why you should have wished to tor-

The Idiot