“In her room.”
“And Sacha?” She pronounced the pet name lovingly.
“I really don’t know. He went to …” At that moment Dounika appeared in the doorway, and said:
“Victor Sergejevitsch is here, and another gentleman.”
“Turn them out of the house,” said Sanine.
Dounika smiled sheepishly.
“Oh! Sir, I can’t do that, can I?”
“Of course you can! What business brings them here?”
Dounika hid her face, and went out.
Drawing herself up to her full height, Maria Ivanovna seemed almost younger, though her eyes looked malevolent. With astonishing ease her point of view had undergone a complete change, as if by playing a trump card she had suddenly scored. Kindly as her feelings for Sarudine had been while she hoped to have him as a son-in-law, they swiftly cooled when she realized that another was to marry Lida, and that Sarudine had only made love to her.