'You're enchanting this evening,' he said, looking at her with great enthusiasm. 'Oh, why did you have to rush into that marriage? I've never regretted it ntore. I know you did it for us, but. .. .' His hands shook as he pulled out a bundle of notes.
'I was paid for some coaching today,' he said. 'So I can pay your husband back.'
She thrust the plate into his hands and someone pounced on her and whisked her off. Over her partner's shoulder she caught a glimpse ofher father gliding over the parquet floor, his arms round a lady as he whirled her through the ballroom.
'Isn't he nice when he's sober!' she thought.
The big officer partnered her again in the mazurka. He moved along, solemn, ponderous, like a uniformed dummy, twitching his chest and shoulders and just faintly tapping his feet. It seemed as if he did not want to dance at all, but she fluttered round him and provoked him with her beauty and bare neck, her movements impetuous and her blazing eyes a challenge. He looked more and more bored and stretched his arms towards her like royalty conferring a favour.
Everyone cheered.
GraduaUy the big officer caught on too. He seemed to wake up and come to life. He yielded to the spell and reaUy let himself go, his movements lithe and youthful, while she just twitched her shoulders with a sly look as if to say that she was queen now and he the slave. She felt everyone's eyes on them and everybody in the ballroom seemed to be swooning with envy. The big officer had hardly had time to thank her when everyone suddenly formed a gangway and the men drew themselves up in a curiously stiff way with their arms at their sides.
The reason was—His ExceUency. He was advancing towards her and he wore a tail-coat with two stars on the chest. She was his target sure enough, for he was staring straight at her with a sickly smile, his lips working as always happened when he saw a pretty woman.
'Delighted, delighted .. .' he began. TU have to put your husband under arrest for sitting tight on such a treasure aU this time. I've a message from my wife,' he went on, holding out his hand. 'You must help us. ... M'm, yes. .. . We ought to give you a prize for beauty ... as they do in America.... M'm, yes.... Those Americans—er, my wife is longing to meet you.'
He took her to a stall, to an eIderIy woman with a vast chin so out of proportion to the rest of her face that she might have had a big stone in her mouth.
'Do come and help,' she said in a nasal drawl. 'AII the pretty women are heIping with the charity bazaar and for some reason you're the only one idle. Why don't you join us?'
She Ieft. Anne took her place by a siIver samovar and tea cups and did a roaring trade from the start. She charged at Ieast a rouble for a cup of tea and made the big officer drink three cups. Artynov, the rich man with the protruding eyes and the wheeze, came up. Tonight he was not wearing the strange cIothes that Anne had seen him in that summer, but sported a taiI-coat Iike everyone eIse. Without taking his eyes off Anne, he drank a glass of champagne and paid a hundred roubles. Then he drank some tea and put down another hundred. He was suffering from asthma and said not a word.
Anne cried hcr wares and took the customers' money, quite sure by this time that these people found nothing but sheer delight in her smiles and gIances. She knew now that this was what she was born for, this hectic, brilIiant life ofIaughter, music, dancing and admirers. Now she couId laugh at her old fear of t he force that bore down and threatened to crush her. She was afraid of no one now and was only sad that her mother was not there so that they couId both enjoy her success.
PaIe, but stiII steady on his feet, her father came up to her stall and asked for a gIass of brandy. Anne thought that he was going to say something out of turn and blushed—she aIready felt ashamed of such a poor, such a very ordinary father. But he just drank his brandy, tossed her ten roubIes from his bundIe of notes and moved away with dignity. Not a word had he said. A IittIe later she saw him dancing the grand rond, staggering now and shouting, at which his partner seemed greatIy put out. He had staggered and shouted just like this at a balI about three years ago, Anne remembered. That had ended with a poIice inspector taking him home to bed, and next day the headmaster had threatened to dismiss him. Not quite the sort of thing Anne wanted to remember just now!
When the samovars had gone cold in the booths and the exhaustcd heIpers had handed their takings to the elderIy woman with thc stone in her mouth, Artynov took Anne's arm and they went into the halI where supper was served for the charity workers. Thcre were not more than a score of peopIe at t.ible, but things were pretty lively. His ExceIlency gave a toast. 'In this magnificent dining-room it is fittŭig that we should drink to the cheap canteens which arc the occasion of tonight's bazaar.' An artillery brigadier proposed 'the power that can bring even a gunner to his knees', and the men all clinked glasses with the ladies.
It was all great fun.
Day was breaking when Anne was taken home, and cooks were on their way to market. Happy, drunk and absolutely dead beat, her head awhirl with new impressions, she undressed, flopped on the bed and fell straight asleep. . . .
At about half past one in the afternoon her maid woke her to say that Mr. Artynov had called. She dressed quickly and went into the draw- mg-room.
Not long after Artynov, His Excellency came to thank her for help- ing with the bazaar. Giving her his sickly look, his lips working, he kissed her hand, asked permission to call again, and left. She stood in the middle of the drawing-room, absolutely dumbfounded, almost in a trance, unable to believe that a change, and such a staggering change, had taken place in her life so quickly.
Then her husband came in.
He stood before her with the look that she knew so well. It was the crawling, sugary, slavish, deferential look that he kept for powerful and distuiguished people. Triumphant, indignant, scornful—quite cer- tain that she could get away with anything and articulating each word clearly—she spoke.
'Get out! Idiot!'
After that Anne never had a day to herself as she was always off on some picnic or outing or taking part in theatricals. She always came home in the small hours and would lie down on the drawing-room floor, after which she would tell everyone the pathetic story of how she had slept beneath the flowers. She needed a lot of money, but she no longer feared Modeste Alekseyevich and spent his money as if it was her ovwn. She made no requests or demands—just sent him bills or notes saying, 'Give bearer 200 roubles', '100 roubles—pay at once.'
At Easter her husban.d received the Order of St. Anne, second class, and called to thank His Excellency. His Excellency laid aside his news- paper and settled back in his arm-chair.
'So you now have three Annes,' he said, studying his white hands and pink finger-nails. 'One in your button-hole and two round your neck.'
Modeste laid two fingers to his lips for fear oflaughing out loud.
'Now we must await the appearance of a tiny Vladimir,' he said. 'Dare I ask your Excellency to be godfather?'
He was hinting at the Order of St. Vladimir, fourth class, and could already see himselfdining out on a quip so brilliantly apt and audacious. He was about to make some other equally happy remark when His Excellency plWlged back into his newspaper and nodded. ...
As for Anne, she took troika rides, went hunting with Artynov, acted in one-act plays, went out to supper, and saw less and less of her family. They always had supper on their own these days. Her father was drinking more than ever, his money had run out, and the har- monium had been sold to pay his debts.