‘Who is that lady?’ Tatyana asked suddenly. Till that instant she had hardly opened her lips.

‘That lady?’ repeated Litvinov, ‘that lady? That is a Madame Ratmirov.’

‘Is she Russian?’

‘Yes.’

‘Did you make her acquaintance here?’

‘No; I have known her a long while.’

‘How beautiful she is!’

‘Did you notice her dress?’ put in Kapitolina Markovna. ‘Ten families might live for a whole year on the cost of her lace alone. Was that her husband with her?’ she inquired turning to Litvinov.

‘Yes.’