The critic had undoubtedly put an interpretation upon the book which could not possibly be put on it.  But he had selected quotations so adroitly that for people who had not read the book (and obviously scarcely anyone had read it) it seemed absolutely clear that the whole book was nothing but a medley of high-flown phrases, not even—­as suggested by marks of interrogation—­used appropriately, and that the author of the book was a person absolutely without knowledge of the subject.  And all this was so wittily done that Sergey Ivanovitch would not have disowned such wit himself.  But that was just what was so awful.

In spite of the scrupulous conscientiousness with which Sergey Ivanovitch verified the correctness of the critic’s arguments, he did not for a minute stop to ponder over the faults and mistakes which were ridiculed; but unconsciously he began immediately trying to recall every detail of his meeting and conversation with the author of the article.

“Didn’t I offend him in some way?” Sergey Ivanovitch wondered.

And remembering that when they met he had corrected the young man about something he had said that betrayed ignorance, Sergey Ivanovitch found the clue to explain the article.

This article was followed by a deadly silence about the book both in the press and in conversation, and Sergey Ivanovitch saw that his six years’ task, toiled at with such love and labor, had gone, leaving no trace.

Sergey Ivanovitch’s position was still more difficult from the fact that, since he had finished his book, he had had no more literary work to do, such as had hitherto occupied the greater part of his time.

Sergey Ivanovitch was clever, cultivated, healthy, and energetic, and he did not know what use to make of his energy.  Conversations in drawing rooms, in meetings, assemblies, and committees—­everywhere where talk was possible—­took up part of his time.  But being used for years to town life, he did not waste all his energies in talk, as his less experienced younger brother did, when he was in Moscow.  He had a great deal of leisure and intellectual energy still to dispose of.

Fortunately for him, at this period so difficult for him from the failure of his book, the various public questions of the dissenting sects, of the American alliance, of the Samara famine, of exhibitions, and of spiritualism, were definitely replaced in public interest by the Slavonic question, which had hitherto rather languidly interested society, and Sergey Ivanovitch, who had been one of the first to raise this subject, threw himself into it heart and soul.

In the circle to which Sergey Ivanovitch belonged, nothing was talked of or written about just now but the Servian War.  Everything that the idle crowd usually does to kill time was done now for the benefit of the Slavonic States.  Balls, concerts, dinners, matchboxes, ladies’ dresses, beer, restaurants—­ everything testified to sympathy with the Slavonic peoples.