midday
Could it be that he was hoping that I , like a flunkey , would gossip in other kitchens and servants ' quarters of his coming to see us in the evenings when Orlov was away , and staying with Zinaida Fyodorovna till late at night ? And when my tittle-tattle came to the ears of his acquaintance , he would drop his eyes in confusion and shake his little finger . And would not he , I thought , looking at his little honeyed face , this very evening at cards pretend and perhaps declare that he had already won Zinaida Fyodorovna from Orlov ? That hatred which failed me at midday when the old father had come , took possession of me now . Kukushkin went away at last , and as I listened to the shuffle of his leather goloshes , I felt greatly tempted to fling after him , as a parting shot , some coarse word of abuse , but I restrained myself . And when the steps had died away on the stairs , I went back to the hall , and , hardly conscious of what I was doing , took up the roll of papers that Gruzin had left behind , and ran headlong downstairs . Without cap or overcoat , I ran down into the street .