“And I was right, truly right,” cried the general, with warmth and solemnity, “for if cigars are f*******n in railway carriages, poodles are much more so.”
“Well, and what did the lady do?” asked Nastasia, impatiently.
“She—ah, that’s where all the mischief of it lies!” replied Ivolgin, frowning. “Without a word, as it were, of warning, she slapped me on the cheek! An extraordinary woman!”
“And you?”
The general dropped his eyes, and elevated his brows; shrugged his shoulders, tightened his lips, spread his hands, and remained silent. At last he blurted out:
“I lost my head!”
“Did you hit her?”
“No, oh no!—there was a great flare-up, but I didn’t hit her! I had to struggle a little, purely to defend myself; but the very devil was in the business. It turned out that ‘light blue’ was
