give you a note. [She sits down at the table and writes,
talking all the while.] Give this to Sidor, the coachman,
and tell him to take it to Abdulin and bring back the
wine. And get to work at once and make the gold room
ready for a guest. Do it nicely. Put a bed in it, a
wash basin and pitcher and everything else.

DOBCHINSKY. Well, I'm going now, Anna Andreyevna,
to see how he does the inspecting.

ANNA. Go on, I'm not keeping you.



SCENE III


Anna Andreyevna and Marya Antonovna.

ANNA. Now, Mashenka, we must attend to our toilet.
He's a metropolitan swell and God forbid that he should
make fun of us. You put on your blue dress with the
little flounces. It's the most becoming.

MARYA. The idea, mamma! The blue dress! I can't
bear it. Liapkin-Tiapkin's wife wears blue and so does
Zemlianika's daughter. I'd rather wear my flowered
dress.

ANNA. Your flowered dress! Of course, just to be