"I will bet you," said Olga Gl?boff, in her attractive voice, "that
Gritzko comes in with no apology, and that we shall none of us be able
to drag from him where he has been!"
As she spoke he entered the room.
"Ah! you are all very early," he said, shaking their hands in frank
welcome. "So good of you, dear friends. Perhaps I am a little late, you
will forgive me, I know; and now for Zacouska, a wolf is tearing at my
vitals, I feel, and yours too. It is nine o'clock!"
Then the dining-room doors at the side opened and they all went in _en
bande_, and gathered round the high table, where they began to eat like
hungry natural people, selecting the dishes they wanted. Some of the
men taking immense spoonfuls of caviare, and spreading them on bread,
like children with jam. All were so joyous and so perfectly without
ceremony. Nothing could be more agreeable than this society, Tamara
thought.
Some of the men were elderly, and a number the husbands of the various
ladies; there were a few young officers and several diplomats from the
Embassies, too. But young or old, all were gay and ready to enjoy life.
"You must taste some vodka, Madame," Prince Milasl?vski said, pouring a
small glass at Tamara's side. "You will not like it, but it is Russian,
and you must learn. See I take some, too, and drink your health!"
Tamara bowed and sipped the stuff, which she found very nasty, with a
whiff of ether in it.
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