Though he was a man of some ability, and by no means very poor, he somehow seemed to every one an eccentric fellow who was fond of solitude, and, what's more, "stuck up in conversation." Madame Virginsky was a midwife by profession--and by that very fact was on the lowest rung of the social ladder, lower even than the priest's wife in spite of her husband's rank as an officer.

But she was conspicuously lacking in the humility befitting her position.

And after her very stupid and unpardonably open liaison on principle with Captain Lebyadkin, a notorious rogue, even the most indulgent of our ladies turned away from her with marked contempt.
But Madame Virginsky accepted all this as though it were what she wanted.

It is remarkable that those very ladies applied to Arina Prohorovna (that is, Madame Virginsky) when they were in an interesting condition, rather than to any one of the other three _accoucheuses_ of the town.

She was sent for even by country families living in the neighbourhood, so great was the belief in her knowledge, luck, and skill in critical cases.