She said the words with indifference, looking not at her grandmother but at the window; but in her voice I could detect on almost imperceptible note of irritation.
‘You’re really going?’ the old woman once more asked, meaningly.
Olyessia’s eyes flashed, and she stared steadily into Manuilikha’s face.
‘Yes, I am going,’ she replied proudly. ‘We talked it out and talked it out long ago.... It’s my affair, and my own responsibility.’
‘Ah, you——’ the old woman exclaimed in reproach and annoyance. She wanted to add more, but only waved her hand and dragged her trembling legs away into the corner, and began to busy herself with a basket, groaning.
I understood that the brief unpleasant conversation which I had just witnessed was a continuation of a long series of mutual quarrels and bursts of anger. As I walked to the forest at Olyessia’s side, I asked her:
‘Granny doesn’t want you to go for a walk with me, does she?’
Olyessia shrugged her shoulders in vexation.
‘Please, don’t take any notice of it.... No, she doesn’t like it.... Surely I’m free to do as I like?’
Suddenly I conceived an irresistible desire to reproach Olyessia with her former sternness.