ully
disinclined to dance. She fluttered round him, provoking him by her
beauty, her bare neck; her eyes glowed defiantly, her movements
were passionate, while he became more and more indifferent, and
held out his hands to her as graciously as a king.

"Bravo, bravo!" said people watching them.

But little by little the huge officer, too, broke out; he grew
lively, excited, and, overcome by her fascination, was carried away
and danced lightly, youthfully, while she merely moved her shoulders
and looked slyly at him as though she were now the queen and he
were her slave; and at that moment it seemed to her that the whole
room was looking at them, and that everybody was thrilled and envied
them. The huge officer had hardly had time to thank her for the
dance, when the crowd suddenly parted and the men drew themselves
up in a strange way, with their hands at their sides.

His Excellency, with two stars on his dress-coat, was walking up
to her. Yes, His Excellency was walking straight towards her, for
he was staring directly at her with a sugary smile, while he licked
his lips as he always did when he saw a pretty woman.

"Delighted, delighted . . ." he began. "I shall order your husband
to be clapped in a lock-up for keeping such a treasure hidden from
us till now. I've come to you with a message from my wife," he went
on, offering her his arm. "You must help us. . . . M-m-yes. . . .
We ought to give you the prize for beauty as they do in America
. . . . M-m-yes. . . . The Americans. . . . My wife is expecting you
impatiently."

He led her to a stall and presented her to a middle-aged lady, the
lower part of whose face was disproportionately large, so that she
looked as though she were holding a big stone in her mouth.

"You must help us," she said through her nose in a sing-song voice.
"All the pretty women are working for our charity bazaar, and you
are the only one enjoying yourself. Why won't you help us?"

She went away, and Anna took her place by the cups and the silver
samovar. She was soon doing a lively trade. Anna asked no less than
a rouble for a cup of tea, and made the huge officer drink three
cups. Artynov, the rich man with prominent eyes, who suffered from
asthma, came up, too; he was not dressed in the strange costume in
which Anna had seen him in the summer at the station, but wore a
dress-coat like every one else. Keeping his eyes fixed on Anna, he
drank a glass of champagne and paid a hundred r