The respite my unexpected agility had given me permitted
"I! Changed? . . . Oh, never! You know that such a thing is impossible! Whoever has seen you once will bear your divine image with him for ever."
"But why will you not let me say to-night what you have so often listened to with con- descension -- and just recently, too?" . . .
"Because I do not like repetitions," she answered, laughing.
"Oh! I have been bitterly mistaken! . . . I thought, fool that I was, that these epaulettes, at least, would give me the right to hope. . . No, it would have been better for me to have remained for ever in that contemptible soldier's cloak, to which, probably, I was indebted for your attention" . . .
"As a matter of fact, the cloak is much more becoming to you" . . .
At that moment I went up and bowed to Princess Mary. She blushed a little, and went on rapidly:
"Is it not true, Monsieur Pechorin, that the grey cloak suits Monsieur Grushnitski much better?" . . .
"I do not agree with you," I answered: "he is more youthful-looking still in his uniform."