Leave Seryozha till my...I shall soon be confined; leave him!" Alexey Alexandrovitch flew into a rage, and, snatching his hand from her, he went out of the room without a word.

The waiting-room of the celebrated Petersburg lawyer was full when Alexey Alexandrovitch entered it.

Three ladies--an old lady, a young lady, and a merchant's wife--and three gentlemen-- one a German banker with a ring on his finger, the second a merchant with a beard, and the third a wrathful-looking government clerk in official uniform, with a cross on his neck-- had obviously been waiting a long while already.

Two clerks were writing at tables with scratching pens.

The appurtenances of the writing-tables, about which Alexey Alexandrovitch was himself very fastidious, were exceptionally good.