Bobetinski did nothing to liven up the evening. He conducted the ball with an apathetic, condescending look, just as if he was performing, from a strict sense of duty, something very distasteful and uninteresting to himself, but of infinite importance to the rest of mankind. When, however, the third quadrille was about to begin, he got, as it were, a little new life, and, as he hurried across the room with the long gliding steps of a skater, he shouted in a loud voice: "_Quadrille monstre! Cavaliers, engagez vos dames!_" Romashov and Raisa Alexandrovna took up a position close to the window of the music gallery, with Michin and Madame Lieschtschenko for their _vis-à-vis_. The latter hardly reached up to her partner's shoulders. The number of dancers had now very noticeably increased, and the couples stood up for the third quadrille. Every dance had therefore to be repeated twice. "There must be an explanation; this must be put a stop to," thought Romashov, almost deafened by the noise of the big drums and the braying brass instruments in his immediate proximity. "I have had enough! 'And in his countenance you could read fixed resolution.'" The "dancing-masters" and those who arranged the regimental balls had preserved by tradition certain fairly innocent frolics and jokes for such soirées, which were greatly appreciated by the younger dancers. For instance, at the third quadrille it was customary, as it were accidentally, by changing the dances, to cause confusion among the dancers, who with uproar and laughter did their part in increasing the general disorder. Bobetinski's device that evening consisted in the gentlemen pretending to forget their partners and dancing the figure by themselves. Suddenly a "galop all round" was ordered, the result of which was a chaos of ladies and gentlemen rushing about in fruitless search for their respective partners. "_Mesdames, avancez--pardon, reculez._ Gentlemen, alone. _Pardon--balancez avec vos dames!_" Raisa Alexandrovna kept talking to Romashov in the most virulent tone and panting with fury, but smiling all the while as if her conversation was wholly confined to pleasant and joyous subjects. "I will not allow any one to treat me in such a manner, do you hear? I am not a good-for-nothing girl you can do as you like with. Besides, decent people don't behave as you are behaving." "Raisa Alexandrovna, for goodness' sake try to curb your temper," begged Romashov in a low, imploring tone. "Angry with you? No, sir, that would be to pay you too high a compliment. I despise you, do you hear? Despise you; but woe to him who dares to play with my feelings! You left my letter unanswered. How dare you?" "But your letter did not reach me, I assure you." "Ha! don't try to humbug me. I know your lies, and I also know where you spend your time. Don't make any mistake about that.