“You may laugh, you may laugh, Boris Pavlovich. Here, in the presence of our guests, I tell you you have behaved badly. You have hardly put your nose inside the house, and straightway vanish. That is an insult to your Grandmother.”
“Surely, Granny, we shall be together every day. I have been visiting an old friend, and we forgot ourselves in talking.”
“Cousin Boris did not do it on purpose, Granny,” said Marfinka. “Leonti Ivanovich is so good.”
“Please be silent when you are not addressed. You are too young to contradict your Grandmother, who knows what she is saying.”
Smilingly Marfinka drew back into her corner.
“No doubt Juliana Andreevna was able to entertain you better, and knows better than I how to entertain a Petersburger. What friccassee did she give you?” asked his aunt, not without a little real curiosity.
“Vermicelli soup, pastry with cabbage, then beef and potatoes.”
Tatiana Markovna laughed ironically, “Vermicelli soup and beef!”
“And groats in the pan....”
“It’s a long time since you tasted such delicacies.”