Nezhdanov; 'it implies that you share his way of thinking, and my remarks apply to you as well.'
Kallomyetsev was livid with wrath.
'Wh-what! You l-laugh! You─you ought─instantly─be———'
'What are you pleased to do with me instantly?' Nezhdanov interrupted a second time with ironical politeness.
There is no knowing how this scuffle between the two enemies would have ended, if Sipyagin had not cut it short at the very commencement. Raising his voice and assuming an air in which it was hard to say which was the predominant element─the solemn authority of the statesman, or the dignity of the master of the house─he declared with calm insistence that he did not wish to hear any such intemperate expressions at his table; that he had long ago made it his rule (he corrected himself─his sacred rule) to respect every sort of conviction, but only on the understanding (here he raised his forefinger, adorned with a signet ring) that they were maintained within the limits of decorum and good breeding; that though on the one hand he could not but censure a certain intemperance in the language of Mr. Nezhdanov, pardonable, however, at his years, on the other hand he could not approve of the severity of
163
