- It's the morning after for Luzhin—the morning after getting dumped.
- His "vanity" positively aches.
- But he's coming to terms with the reality of it.
- Luzhin thinks he can find somebody else to marry him, maybe even somebody "better" than Dounia.
- He's with Andrey Semyonovitch, at his place, where Luzhin has been crashing.
- Andrey Semyonovitch is getting on his nerves in a serious way, and Luzhin has been losing his temper—not a smart move on his part, he decides.
- Everything had gone wrong for him today, including not being able to get his deposit back on the redecorating and furniture he was buying for his and Dounia's house.
- When he was running those errands, he decided that things weren't hopeless with Dounia.
- Drat. He wished he had given Dounia and Pulcheria money and presents. Then it wouldn't have been so easy to toss him out on his ear.
- When he got home from running errands, he passed by Katerina's place (which is in the same building as Andrey Semyonovitch's) and saw her getting things ready for the funeral. He remembered that he was invited and that Raskolnikov would be there, too.
- Okay, now we are back in the present, at Andrey Semyonovitch's.
- Luzhin loathes Andrey Semyonovitch. Andrey Semyonovitch is part of a group (or groups) of people who are reacting (by conducting social experiments) against the norms of their society.
- According to the narrator, Luzhin has a stereotypical view of such people and hates them.
- Yet, he fears that they could be powerful. They "denounce" everyone and everything they can.
- It turns out that Luzhin is afraid these people might find out about him and denounce him. (It's all very mysterious, enough to make us wonder what Luzhin is hiding.) He's hanging with Andrey Semyonovitch to infiltrate his crew and find out if they are dangerous.
- Andrey Semyonovitch is a sickly guy who "almost always [has] something wrong with his eyes."
- Inside, he's a sweetheart. Outside, he's a know-it-all and often rude.
- Even though he's mellow, he's beginning to dislike Luzhin. He thinks he might be "a liar."
- Luzhin cashed some checks in the morning and is now counting all his money in front of Andrey Semyonovitch using an abacus.
- Andrey Semyonovitch (who is only a poor clerk) thinks Luzhin is showing off his money just to be a jerk.
- Worse, Luzhin isn't paying attention to what Andrey Semyonovitch is saying, which is very important. His favorite thing to talk about is the dream "commune" that he and his buddies are founding.
- Instead of listening, Luzhin asks about the funeral, pretending he's not really interested in it and that he doesn't remember being invited. He criticizes Katerina for spending money so frivolously. He says he won't go. Andrey Semyonovitch says he won't, either.
- Luzhin laughs maliciously and says of course Andrey Semyonovitch wouldn't go—he has beaten up Katerina before (as we remember Marmeladov telling Raskolnikov).
- Andrey Semyonovitch gets upset, denying it. He says Katerina attacked him and he was just fighting her off. Luzhin laughs. Andrey Semyonovitch tells him that he's being grumpy because he was just dumped.
- Luzhin says he's a jerk to go and eat there when he hates those people.
- Andrey Semyonovitch says he can tell them about his commune and his ideas and try to convert them to his way of thinking.
- Marriage is a big focus—he thinks it's silly, a social convention that keeps women from being free. Luzhin laughs and brings up Sonia, asking if it's true she's a prostitute.
- Andrey Semyonovitch says that when everything changes and society is fixed, being a prostitute won't be considered a bad thing—it will be recognized as a decent job.
- Luzhin asks if it's true that he helped get Sonia thrown out.
- No way, he says. He never slept with Sonia. He was just helping her with her education. Luzhin makes all kinds of insinuations.
- Andrey Semyonovitch says he wants to help Sonia and that he and his crew want women's rights.
- Luzhin has him all worked up and keeps on aggravating him.
- When Luzhin is finished with the abacus, he stashes most of his cash but leaves some out.
- He says he wants to talk to Sonia.
- When Andrey Semyonovitch returns with a nervous, bashful Sonia, Luzhin seats her and then asks Andrey if Raskolnikov is at the dinner yet.
- Hearing that he is, he persuades Andrey Semyonovitch to hang out, to be a witness that no funny business occurs. Luzhin asks Sonia to tell her mother that he's sorry he can't be at the dinner.
- She jumps up to deliver the message, but he makes her sit back down.
- The money on the table attracts her eyes, but she doesn't want to look at it, so she looks at his hands. But her eyes are attracted to his expensive jewelry, which she doesn't want to look at, either, so she looks at his eyes.
- He says he wants to help raise some money for Katerina (but he sounds really stingy).
- Sonia asks if he promised Katerina he would help her get a widow's pension from the government.
- He laughs, saying this is ridiculous. He only told her about another widow that was getting one. Marmeladov hadn't been working for the government in a long time, so Katerina won't be eligible for a pension.
- He makes fun of Katerina. Sonia defends her but then apologizes for Katerina's odd ways. She tries to leave, but Luzhin holds her back again.
- He wants her to meet him at 7 p.m. to discuss what they can do to help Katerina.
- Criticizing Katerina for spending money on a dinner, he gives Sonia 10 roubles and tells her to hide it from Katerina. Her face turns red, and she takes the money and gets up.
- Luzhin goes with her to the door. She returns to Katerina, incredibly "confused."
- Andrey Semyonovitch is extremely pleased with Luzhin and tells him that he "heard and saw everything."
- He compliments Luzhin on his generosity and then asks him why he would ever want a "legal marriage."
- Luzhin says that Andrey Semyonovitch's open marriage idea will just make it so men will have to support other men's kids.
- Andrey Semyonovitch says that if he gets married and his wife doesn't find a boyfriend, he'll find one for her.
- Luzhin is excited and isn't listening. Later, this will mean something to Andrey Semyonovitch.