“Marfinka, where are you, come here,” cried her grandmother. “She was so terrified when she saw you, and terrified me too. Let me look at you, Borushka.”
She led him to the light and looked at him long and earnestly.
“How ill you look,” she said. “But no, you are sunburnt. The moustache suits you, why do you grow a beard? Shave it off, Borushka, I can’t endure it. Ah! grey hairs here and there already. You are beginning to age too soon.”
“It’s not with age, Granny.”
“Why then? Are you in good health?”
“I’m well enough. Let us talk of something else. You, thank God, are always the same.”
“What do you mean?”
“You don’t alter a bit, are still as beautiful as ever. I never saw an old lady whose age adorned her so.”
“Thanks for the compliment, my child. It would be better for you to spend your admiration on your sisters. I will whisper the truth to you. Two such beauties you will not find in the town, especially the other....”
“Where is my other sister?”