"Certainly? We started, I and Anissia——"
"Yes, yes, I know! What then?"
"I would rather tell you in proper order. We were just in time for dinner; the room was quite full. There were the Zaharievskys, the steward's wife and daughters, the Shlupinskys——"
"Yes, yes! And Berestoff?"
"Wait a bit. We sat down to dinner. The steward's wife had the seat of honour; I sat next to her, and her daughters were huffy; but what do I care!"
"Oh, Nastia! How tiresome you are with these everlasting details!"
"How impatient you are! Well, then we rose from table—we had been sitting for about three hours and it was a splendid dinner-party, blue, red and striped creams—then we went into the garden to play at kiss-in-the-ring when the young gentleman appeared."
"Well, is it true? Is he so handsome?"
"Wonderfully handsome! I may say beautiful. Tall, stately, with a lovely colour."