y took no notice of her reception of him, but none of her
person either. In fact, he bowed to the company at large in a way which,
though not graceful, was at least free from embarrassment.

Sonetchka now claimed my whole attention. I remember that, as I stood
in the salon with Etienne and Woloda, at a spot whence we could both
see and be seen by Sonetchka, I took great pleasure in talking very loud
(and all my utterances seemed to me both bold and comical) and glancing
towards the door of the drawing-room, but that, as soon as ever we
happened to move to another spot whence we could neither see nor be seen
by her, I became dumb, and thought the conversation had ceased to be
enjoyable. The rooms were now full of people--among them (as at all
children's parties) a number of elder children who wished to dance and
enjoy themselves very much, but who pretended to do everything merely in
order to give pleasure to the mistress of the house.

When the Iwins arrived I found that, instead of being as delighted as
usual to meet Seriosha, I felt a kind of vexation that he should see and
be seen by Sonetchka.

XXI -- BEFORE THE MAZURKA

"HULLO, Woloda! So we are going to dance to-night," said Seriosha,
issuing from the drawing-room and taking out of his pocket a brand new
pair of gloves. "I suppose it IS necessary to put on gloves?"

"Goodness! What shall I do? We have no gloves," I thought to myself.
"I must go upstairs and search about." Yet though I rummaged in every
drawer, I only found, in one of them, my green travelling mittens, and,
in another, a single lilac-coloured glove, a thing which could be of no
use to me, firstly, because it was very old and dirty, secondly, because
it was much too large for me, and thirdly (and principally), because the
middle finger was wanting--Karl having long ago cut it off to wear over
a sore nail.

However, I put it on--not without some diffident contemplation of the
blank left by the middle finger and of the ink-stained edges round the
vacant space.

"If only Natalia Savishna had been here," I reflected, "we should
certainly have found some gloves. I can't go downstairs in this
condition. Yet, if they ask me why I am not dancing, what am I to say?
However, I can't remain here either, or they will be sending upstairs to
fetch me. What on earth am I to do?" and I wrung my hands.

"What are you up to here?" asked Woloda as he burst into the room. "Go
and engage a partner. The da