“ Oh, c’est un histoire bien bête! Je vous attendais, ma bonne amie, pour vous raconter⁠ ⁠… ”

“Enough, Stepan Trofimovitch. Leave me in peace. I’m worn out. We shall have time to talk to our heart’s content, especially of what’s unpleasant. You’ve begun to splutter when you laugh, it’s a sign of senility! And what a strange way of laughing you’ve taken to!⁠ ⁠… Good Heavens, what a lot of bad habits you’ve fallen into! Karmazinov won’t come and see you! And people are only too glad to make the most of anything as it is.⁠ ⁠… You’ve betrayed yourself completely now. Well, come, that’s enough, that’s enough, I’m tired. You really might have mercy upon one!”

Stepan Trofimovitch “had mercy,” but he withdrew in great perturbation.