ten minutes to four
` Of course ; I need only call Vanka the cook and order a few extra dishes . ' ` You are aware that I will not enter into that , ' said Nikolai Artemyevitch ; and he got up , put on his hat , and whistling -LRB- he had heard some one say that whistling was only permissible in a country villa and a riding court -RRB- went out for a stroll in the garden . Shubin watched him out of the little window of his lodge , and in silence put out his tongue at him . At ten minutes to four , a hackney-carriage drove up to the steps of the Stahovs 's villa , and a man , still young , of prepossessing appearance , simply and elegantly dressed , stepped out of it and sent up his name . This was Yegor Andreyevitch Kurnatovsky . This was what , among other things , Elena wrote next day to Insarov : ` Congratulate me , dear Dmitri , I have a suitor . He dined with us yesterday : papa made his acquaintance at the English club , I fancy , and invited him .