"What then? She ought to make a discount; why should we have to pay for time when we weren't there? Besides, she is very impertinent."
"Well, your landlady is impertinent because she's yours—your cousin is particularly quarrelsome," said Vershina, with an emphasis on the "cousin."
Peredonov frowned and looked dully in front of him with his half-sleepy eyes. Vershina changed the subject. Peredonov pulled a caramel out of his pocket, tore the paper off and began to chew it. He happened to glance at Marta and thought that she wanted a caramel.
"Shall I give her one or not?" thought Peredonov. "She's not worth it. I suppose I ought to give her one to show that I'm not stingy. After all, I've got a pocketful."
And he pulled out a handful of caramels.
"Here you are!" he said, and held out the sweets, first to Vershina and then to Marta.
"They're very good bonbons," he said, "expensive ones—thirty kopecks a pound."
Each of the women took a sweet.
"Take more," he said, "I've lots of them. They're very nice bonbons—I wouldn't eat bad ones."
"Thank you, I don't want any more," said Vershina in her quick, monotonous voice.