a pretty little animal, evidently delighting in the fact that they admired her, and she smiled; and, putting out her legs sidewise, she energetically crept about, now going swiftly backward, and again darting forward, and clutching things with her little fingers.
But the whole atmosphere of the nursery, and especially the English maid, struck Darya Aleksandrovna very unpleasantly. Only by the supposition that no respectable person would consent to serve in a household as irregular as Anna's, could she understand how Anna, with her knowledge of people, could be willing to put up with such an unsympathetic, vulgar maid.
Darya Aleksandrovna, after a few words, observed that Anna, the nurse, the maid, and the child were not much wonted to each other, and that the mother was almost a stranger in this part of the house. She wanted to find a plaything for the little girl and did not know where it was kept. Strangest of all, in answering the question how many teeth the child had, she made a mistake, and did not know anything about the last two.
"It is always a grief to me that I am so useless here," said Anna, as they went out, holding up the train of her dress so that it should not catch on any of the toys by the door. "It was not so with my oldest."
"I thought, on the contrary ...." began Dolly, timidly.
"Oh, no! You know that I have seen Serozha again," said she, half shutting her eyes and looking fixedly before her, as if she sought for something far away. "However, we'll talk about that by and by. You can't believe — but I am like a person dying of starvation, who finds a banquet before her, and does not know what to begin with. You and the talk I am going to have with you are this banquet for me. With whom could I speak openly if not with you? I don't know what topic to take up first. Mais je ne vous ferai grâce de rien.[1] I must tell you all.
"Well, I want to give you a sketch now of the people you will meet here," she began. "First, the Princess Varvara. You know her, and I know your opinion and
- ↑ I shall not spare you anything.
