she spoke angrily, and in great excitement, and expected an immediate reply. but in such a case, no matter how many are present, all prefer to keep silence: no one will take the initiative, but all reserve their comments till afterwards. there were some present varvara ardalionovna, for instance who would have willingly sat there till morning without saying a word. varvara had sat apart all the evening without opening her lips, but she listened to everything with the closest attention; perhaps she had her reasons for so doing.