LITTLE ELLA
145
' Ho ! Ho ! ’ said Ella as she sat down on one of the new chairs. ‘ We’ll have to separate.’ ‘ You’re joking ! ’ ‘ We are utterly incompatible. I----- ’ ‘ You’re a fine, fat lad ! ’ ‘ How many times have I told you not to call me a lad? ’ ' Fancy that! ’ ' Where have you learnt this idiotic jargon ? ’ ‘ Don’t teach me how to live ! ’ ‘ Oh, damn ! ’ he shouted. ‘ We shall have to separate ; only, for goodness’ sake, let it be done amicably.’ ‘ Oho ! ’ ‘ I shall go and fetch a van and we can divide the furniture between us.’ ‘ Dreadful! ’ ‘ You can have a hundred roubles a month and you can keep the room. You can live as you hke, but I’m not going on any more in this way----- ’ ‘ Marvellous ! ’ said Ella sarcastically. ‘ I shall go over to Ivan Alekseyevich.’ ‘ Oho ! ’ ' He’s gone to the country and I can use his flat. He’s given me the key, but there isn’t any furniture.' ‘ Beautiful! ’ Five minutes later he returned with a van. ‘ I shall take the writing-table,’ he said, ‘ and one of these chairs. I think I’m entitled to it.’ He made a bundle of his personal belongings and moved towards the door. ' Your back is all white ! ’ said Ella in a gramophone voice. ' Good-bye, EUa I ’ He expected his wife to drop her jargon at least for once. Ella too felt it was an important moment: she tried hard to find suitable words for their parting, but IO
