I asked him: ‘Your Excellency,’ said I, ‘can a lady’s breath be unpleasant?’ ‘Yes,’ he answered; ‘you ought to open a windowpane or open the door, for the air is not fresh here.’ And they all go on like that! And what is my breath to them? The dead smell worse still! ‘I won’t spoil the air,’ said I, ‘I’ll order some slippers and go away.’ My darlings, don’t blame your own mother! Nikolay Ilyitch, how is it I can’t please you? There’s only Ilusha who comes home from school and loves me. Yesterday he brought me an apple. Forgive your own mother—forgive a poor lonely creature! Why has my breath become unpleasant to you?”
And the poor mad woman broke into sobs, and tears streamed down her cheeks. The captain rushed up to her.
“Mamma, mamma, my dear, give over! You are not lonely. Everyone loves you, everyone adores you.”
He began kissing both her hands again and tenderly stroking her face; taking the dinner-napkin, he began wiping away her tears. Alyosha fancied that he too had tears in his eyes.
“There, you see, you hear?” he turned with a sort of fury to Alyosha, pointing to the poor imbecile.
“I see and hear,” muttered Alyosha.
“Father, father, how can you—with him! Let him alone!” cried the boy, sitting up in his bed and gazing at his father with glowing eyes.
“Do give over fooling, showing off your silly antics which never lead to anything!” shouted Varvara, stamping her foot with passion.
“Your anger is quite just this time, Varvara, and I’ll make haste to satisfy you. Come, put on your cap, Alexey Fyodorovitch, and I’ll put on mine. We will go out. I have a word to say to you in earnest, but not within these walls. This