Snow all around, no neighbors. Is there a regiment quartered anywhere near here?"
"Yes, there is a regiment and there are neighbors; but, to tell the truth, it doesn't interest me.
Yet, if you——"
Porfiry Vladimirych looked at her and did not end his sentence, but coughed.
Perhaps he had stopped intentionally, wishing to excite her feminine curiosity. At any rate the same faint smile as before glided over her lips.
She leaned her elbows on the table and looked at Yevpraksia fixedly. The, girl all flushed, was drying the glasses, casting sly glances at Anninka with her large, heavy eyes.
"My new housekeeper—very industrious," said Porfiry Vladimirych.
Anninka nodded slightly and began to purr softly: "Ah, ah! que j'aime—que j'aime—que j'aime—les mili-mili-mili-taires!" and her hips quivered as she sang.
Silence set in, during which Yudushka, his eyes meekly lowered, sipped his tea from a glass.
"My, it's dull!" said Anninka, yawning again.
"It's dull, and it's dull! You never get tired of saying that.
You wait a while, stay here a bit longer. We'll order the sleigh set to rights, and you'll ride to your heart's content."
"Uncle, why didn't you become a hussar?"
"Because, my friend, every man has his station ordained by the Lord.
Some are to become hussars, others functionaries, others merchants; some are——"
"Oh, yes, and so on, and so forth. Who can keep track of it all?
And God ordained all that, did He?"
"Why, yes, my friend, God. And it is not proper to scoff.
Do you know what the Scriptures say? 'Without the will of God——'"
"Is it about the hair? Yes, I know that, too.
But the trouble is, everybody wears false hair now, and I don't think that was foreseen.
By the way, uncle, look what wonderful braids I have! Don't you think they're fine?"
Porfiry Vladimirych came nearer, for some reason, on tiptoe, and fingered her braids for some time.
And Yevpraksia, without relaxing her hold on the saucer filled with tea and holding a bit of toast between her teeth, leaned forward and said,
"False, I suppose?"
"Oh, no, my own.
Some day I'll let my hair down for you, uncle."
"Yes, your hair is fine," said Yudushka, his lips parting in a repulsive smile. Then he recalled that one must turn his back on such temptations and added, "Oh, you hoyden! Always thinking about braids and trains, but you'd never think of inquiring about the main thing, the real thing?"
"Oh, about grandmother? She is dead, isn't she?"
"Yes, my friend, she died. And how she died!
Peacefully, calmly, not a soul heard it.
That's what I call a worthy end to one's earthly life.
She thought of everybody, gave everybody her blessing, called a priest, received her last communion, and suddenly became so calm, so calm! Then she began to sigh.
Sighed once, twice, three times, and before we knew it, she was no more."
Yudushka rose, turned toward the ikon, folded his hands, and offered up a prayer.
Tears rose to his eyes, so well did he simulate.
But Anninka apparently was not of the sentimental kind.
It is true she remained pensive for a while but for quite a different reason.
"Do you remember, uncle, how she used to feed my sister and me on sour milk when we were little ones?
Not later. Later she was splendid. I mean when she was still rich."
"Oh, well, let bygones be bygones.
She fed you on sour milk, but you look none the worse for it, may the Lord be with you.
Do you think you would care to visit her grave?"
"Yes, I wouldn't mind."
"But you know, it would be well if you purified yourself first."
"What do you mean, purified?"
"You know—an actress. You think it was easy for the old woman?
So before you go to her grave I think you should attend a mass to purify yourself, you know.
You see, I'll order a mass early tomorrow morning, and then—Godspeed!"
Absurd as Yudushka's proposition was, it confused Anninka for a minute.