and had known of the lucky fellow at the fountain?’

‘Stop a minute, stop a minute,’ interposed Zina�da, ‘I will tell you myself what each of you would have done. You, Byelovzorov, would have challenged him to a duel; you, Meidanov, would have written an epigram on him � No, though, you can’t write epigrams, you would have made up a long poem on him in the style of Barbier, and would have inserted your production in the Telegraph. You, Nirmatsky, would have borrowed � no, you would have lent him money at high interest; you, doctor,� ’ she stopped. ‘There, I really don’t know what you would have done� .’

‘In the capacity of court physician,’ answered Lushin, ‘I would have advised the queen not to give balls when she was