“It is expressed in legal style, and sounds coarser than perhaps he intended. But I must disillusion you a little. There is one expression in the letter, one slander about me, and rather a contemptible one. I gave the money last night to the widow, a woman in consumption, crushed with trouble, and not ‘on the pretext of the funeral,’ but simply to pay for the funeral, and not to the daughter⁠—a young woman, as he writes, of notorious behaviour (whom I saw last night for the first time in my life)⁠—but to the widow. In all this I see a too hasty desire to slander me and to raise dissension between us. It is expressed again in legal jargon, that is to say, with a too obvious display of the aim, and with a very naive eagerness. He is a man of intelligence, but to act sensibly, intelligence is not enough. It all shows the man and⁠ ⁠… I don’t think he has a great esteem for you. I tell you this simply to warn you, because I sincerely wish for your good⁠ ⁠…”

Dounia did not reply. Her resolution had been taken. She was only awaiting the evening.