‘Who spoil me?’
‘Who? everyone, I expect; your parents to begin with.’
(The little girl looked, without a word, at her mother.) ‘I can fancy
Konstantin Alexandritch,’ I was going on …
‘Yes, yes,’ Sophia Nikolaevna interposed, while her little daughter kept her attentive eyes fastened upon her; ‘my husband, of course—he is very fond of children….’
A strange expression flitted across Lidia’s clever little face. There was a slight pout about her lips; she hung her head.
‘Tell me,’ Sophia Nikolaevna added hurriedly; ‘you are here on business, I expect?’
‘Yes, I am here on business…. And are you too?’
‘Yes…. In my husband’s absence, you understand, I’m obliged to look after business matters.’
‘Maman!’ Lidia was beginning.
‘Quoi, mon enfant?’
‘Non—rien…. Je te dirai après.’
Sophia Ni
