“What if it were really that?” he said, as though reaching a conclusion. “Yes, that’s what it was! I wanted to become a Napoleon, that is why I killed her.⁠ ⁠… Do you understand now?”

“N-no,” Sonia whispered naively and timidly. “Only speak, speak, I shall understand, I shall understand in myself !” she kept begging him.

“You’ll understand? Very well, we shall see!” He paused and was for some time lost in meditation.