midday
Three years before her death she had come to see her father . He had scarcely recognized her . She was a graceful young woman with the manners of a young lady , and dressed like one . She talked cleverly , as though from a book , smoked , and slept till midday . When Andrey Andreyitch asked her what she was doing , she had announced , looking him boldly straight in the face : `` I am an actress . '' Such frankness struck the former flunkey as the acme of cynicism . Mashutka had begun boasting of her successes and her stage life ; but seeing that her father only turned crimson and threw up his hands , she ceased .