'My love—in the first place, there are no specialists in Russia; and, secondly, I repeat he's a mechanician!'
Valentina Mihalovna smiled.
'Take care, my dear; you've been unlucky once already with young men; mind you don't make a second mistake!'
'You mean Nezhdanov? But I consider I attained my object any way; he's an excellent teacher for Kolya. And besides, you know, non bis in idem! Pardon my pedantry, please. . . . That means, facts don't repeat themselves.'
'You think not? But I think everything in the world repeats itself . . . especially what's in the nature of things . . . and especially with young people.'
'Que voulez-vous dire?' asked Sipyagin, flinging the pamphlet on the table with a graceful gesture.
'Ouvrez les yeux, et vous verrez!' Madame Sipyagin answered him; they spoke French, of course, to one another.
'H'm!' commented Sipyagin. 'Are you alluding to the student fellow?'
'To Monsieur le student—yes'
'H'm! has he got . . .' (he moved his hand about his forehead . . .) 'anything afoot here? Eh?'
'Open your eyes!'
38
