she thought, as she dragged the prince along towards her own house, and again when she sat him down at the round table where the family was already assembled. "how dared they so much as think of such a thing? i should die with shame if i thought there was a particle of truth in it, or if i were to show the letter to aglaya herself! who dares play these jokes upon us, the epanchins? why didn’t we go to the yelagin instead of coming down here? i told you we had better go to the yelagin this summer, ivan fedorovitch. it’s all your fault. i dare say it was that varia who sent the letter. it’s all ivan fedorovitch. that woman is doing it all for him, i know she is, to show she can make a fool of him now just as she did when he used to give her pearls.