Part I, Chapter 5, The Wise Serpent Summary

Chapter 5 begins with a confrontation between Mrs. Stavrogin, Lisa, Miss Lebyatkin and Verkhovensky, Shatov, and the narrator. Mrs. Stavrogin wants to find out what Shatov knows about Lebyatkin. She also calls Dasha and Mrs. and Mr. Drozdov to come into the conversation. Peter Verkhovensky (Stepan's son) and Captain Lebyatkin also show up. Peter begins to tell of Nicholas Stavrogin's relationship to Miss Lebyatkin when Nicholas suddenly appears. His mother demands to know whether Miss Lebyatkin the cripple is his wife. It is implied that the answer is "no", though Nicholas does not answer directly. Instead he leads Miss Lebyatkin out of the house and takes her home.

After Nicholas has left, Peter takes it upon himself to explain the circumstances of Nicholas's relationship with Miss Lebyatkin. Peter explains that five years ago, Nicholas...