“It wasn't my fault, but other people's. They neglected to let me know. It was ... it was ... it was simply absurd.”

“It's not only absurd, but something else as well,” muttered Trudolyubov, naively taking my part. “You are not hard enough upon it. It was simply rudeness--unintentional, of course. And how could Simonov ... h'm!”

“If a trick like that had been played on me,” observed Ferfitchkin, “I should ...”

“But you should have ordered something for yourself,” Zverkov interrupted, “or simply asked for dinner without waiting for us.”

“You will allow that I might have done that without your permission,” I rapped out.