The Vanishing Futurist (2016)
“They were a little wild, perhaps: they could not sit up at the dinner table without arguing, shouting, and dropping food on the tablecloth. They rarely took exercise, instead romping about indoors, breaking precious objects in Mr Kobelev’s collection. At lesson times I soon discovered where they would be hiding: in the kitchen, where the cook Darya fed them strawberry jam by the spoonful and commiserated with them at their bad luck in having to be educated at all.
‘Too much jam is bad for t...hem,’ I told her in my broken Russian.
‘Ah, nothing can harm the innocent!’ came the airy reply, translated for me by Liza in a butter-wouldn’t-melt voice.
They had had a succession of governesses, and neither their father nor anyone else would say no to them; they were universally pitied, by servants and family alike.
‘We’re poor, neglected children,’ Dima would say with a serene look.
‘Yes, tragic children,’ Liza chimed in.MoreLess
‘Too much jam is bad for t...hem,’ I told her in my broken Russian.
‘Ah, nothing can harm the innocent!’ came the airy reply, translated for me by Liza in a butter-wouldn’t-melt voice.
They had had a succession of governesses, and neither their father nor anyone else would say no to them; they were universally pitied, by servants and family alike.
‘We’re poor, neglected children,’ Dima would say with a serene look.
‘Yes, tragic children,’ Liza chimed in.MoreLess
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