“A forfeit!” cried a young man in militia uniform whom Julie called “ mon chevalier ,” and who was going with her to Nízhni.

In Julie’s set, as in many other circles in Moscow, it had been agreed that they would speak nothing but Russian and that those who made a slip and spoke French should pay fines to the Committee of Voluntary Contributions.

“Another forfeit for a Gallicism,” said a Russian writer who was present. “ ‘What pleasure is there to be’ is not Russian!”

“You spare no one,” continued Julie to the young man without heeding the author’s remark.