his crooked yellow teeth, he dropped off, as his habit
was, into a nap, to the intense delight of Sanin, who
began walking up and down with noiseless steps on
the soft carpet, and dreaming of his life with Gemma
and of what news he would bring back to her.
Polozov, however, awoke, as he remarked himself, earlier
than usual—he had slept only an hour and
a half—and after drinking a glass of iced
seltzer water, and swallowing eight spoonfuls of jam,
Russian jam, which his valet brought him in a dark-green
genuine ‘Kiev’ jar, and without which,
in his own words, he could not live, he stared with
his swollen eyes at Sanin and asked him wouldn’t
he like to play a game of ‘fools’ with
him. Sanin agreed readily; he was afraid that
Polozov would begin talking again about lambs and
ewes and fat tails. The host and the visitor both
adjourned to the drawing-room, the waiter brought
in the cards, and the game began, not,—of
course, for money.
At this innocent diversion Maria Nikolaevna found
them on her return from the Countess Lasunsky’s.
She laughed aloud directly she came into the room
and saw the cards and the open card-table. Sanin
jumped up, but she cried, ’Sit still; go on
with the game. I’ll change my dress directly
and come back to you,’ and vanished again with
a swish of her dress, pulling off her gloves as she
went.
She did in fact return very soon. Her evening
dress she had exchanged for a full lilac silk tea-gown,
with open hanging sleeves; a thick twisted cord was
fastened round her waist. She sat down by her
husband, and, waiting till he was left ‘fool,’
said to him, ’Come, dumpling, that’s enough!’
(At the word ‘dumpling’ Sanin glanced at
her in surprise, and she smiled gaily, answering his
look with a look, and displaying all the dimples on
her cheeks.) ’I see you are sleepy; kiss my
hand and get along; and Monsieur Sanin and I will have
a chat together alone.’
‘I’m not sleepy,’ observed Polozov,
getting up ponderously from his easy-chair; ’but
as for getting along, I’m ready to get along
and to kiss your hand.’ She gave him the
palm of her hand, still smiling and looking at Sanin.
Polozov, too, looked at him, and went away without
taking leave of him.
‘Well, tell me, tell me,’ said Maria Nikolaevna
eagerly, setting both her bare elbows on the table
and impatiently tapping the nails of one hand against
the nails of the other, ’Is it true, they say,
you are going to be married?’
As she said these words, Maria Nikolaevna positively
bent her head a little on one side so as to look more
intently and piercingly into Sanin’s eyes.
The free and easy deportment of Madame Polozov would
probably for the first moment have disconcerted Sanin—though
he was not quite a novice and had knocked about the
world a little—if he had not again seen
in this very freedom and familiarity a good omen for
his undertaking. ‘We must humour this rich
lady’s caprices,’ he decided inwardly;
and as unconstrainedly as she had questioned him he
answered, ’Yes; I am going to be married.’
