Sanine shrugged his shoulders.
“What is that you don’t understand? She was in love with one man, and now she’s in love with another; and to-morrow she’ll be in love with a third. Well, God bless her!”
“What’s that you say?” cried Maria Ivanovna indignantly.
Sanine leant against the table and folded his arms.
“In the course of your life did you yourself only love one man?” he asked angrily.
Maria Ivanovna rose. Her wrinkled face wore a look of chilling pride.
“One shouldn’t speak to one’s mother like that,” she said sharply.
“Who?”
“How do you mean, who?”
“Who shouldn’t speak?” said Sanine, as he looked at her from head to foot. For the first time he noticed how dull and vacant was the expression in her eyes, and how absurdly her cap was placed upon her head, like a cock’s comb.