'I am nothing to her at all,' cried Sanin, 'I am a Russian, but I
cannot look on at such insolence with indifference; but here is my
card and my address; _monsieur l'officier_ can find me.'

As he uttered these words, Sanin threw his visiting-card on the table,
and at the same moment hastily snatched Gemma's rose, which one of the
officers sitting at the table had dropped into his plate. The young
man was again on the point of jumping up from the table, but his
companion again checked him, saying, 'Doenhof, be quiet! Doenhof, sit
still.' Then he got up himself, and putting his hand to the peak of
his cap, with a certain shade of respectfulness in his voice and
manner, told Sanin that to-morrow morning an officer of the regiment
would have the honour of calling upon him. Sanin replied with a short
bow, and hurriedly returned to his friends.

Herr Klueber pretended he had not noticed either Sanin's absence
nor his interview with the officers; he was urging on the coachman,
who was putting in the horses, and was furiously angry at his
deliberateness. Gemma too said nothing to Sanin, she did not even
look at him; from her knitted brows, from her pale and compressed
lips, from her very immobility it could be seen that she was suffering
inwardly. Only Emil obviously wanted to speak to Sanin, wanted to
question him; he had seen Sanin go up to the officers, he had seen him
give them something white--a scrap of paper, a note, or a card.... The
poor boy's heart was beating, his cheeks burned, he was ready to throw
himself on Sanin's neck, ready to cry, or to go with him at once to
crush all those accursed officers into dust and ashes! He controlled
himself, however, and did no more than watch intently every movement
of his noble Russian friend.