Varvara kissed the Koukish.
"What of that, it won't split my lips," she said.
The date of the wedding was kept secret even from the bride's-men until the day itself, so that they might not chatter about it. At first Routilov and Volodin were invited as bride's-men and both eagerly accepted; Routilov looked for an amusing experience, while Volodin felt flattered to play such an important role at such a distinguished event in the life of such an esteemed personage. Then Peredonov considered that one bride's-man was not enough for him. He said:
"Varvara, you can have one, but I must have two. One isn't enough for me—it will be difficult to hold the crown[1] over me. I'm a tall man."
And Peredonov invited Falastov as his second bride's-man.
Varvara grumbled:
"To the devil with him! We've got two, why should we have any more?"
"He's got gold spectacles. He'll look important," said Peredonov.
On the morning of the wedding Peredonov washed in hot water, as he always did, to avoid catching cold, and then demanded rouge, explaining:
"Now I have to rouge myself every day or else they'll think I'm getting old and they won't appoint me as inspector."