For a moment he stood still, looked at the rug at which he had stumbled, and, uttering aloud "Change it!" went out of the room.

Yulia Mihailovna ran after him.

Her exit was followed by an uproar, in which it was difficult to distinguish anything.

Some said he was "deranged," others that he was "liable to attacks"; others put their fingers to their forehead; Lyamshin, in the corner, put his two fingers above his forehead.

People hinted at some domestic difficulties--in a whisper, of course.