The Twelve Chairs / Двенадцать стульев. Книга для чтения на английском языке

He clearly remembered the drawing-room in his house and its symmetrically arranged walnut furniture with curved legs, the polished parquet floor, the old brown grand piano, and the oval black-framed daguerreotypes of high-ranking relatives on the walls.

Claudia Ivanovna then said in a wooden, apathetic voice:

В«I sewed my jewels into the seat of a chairВ».

Ippolit Matveyevich looked sideways at the old woman.

В«What jewels?В» he asked mechanically, then, suddenly realizing what she had said, added quickly:

В«Weren't they taken when the house was searched?В»

В«I hid the jewels in a chairВ», repeated the old woman stubbornly.

Ippolit Matveyevich jumped up and, taking a close look at Claudia Ivanovna's stony face lit by the paraffin lamp, saw she was not raving.

В«Your jewels!В» he cried, startled at the loudness of his own voice. В«In a chair? Who induced you to do that? Why didn't you give them to me?В»

В«Why should I have given them to you when you squandered away my daughter's estate?В» said the old woman quietly and viciously.

His heart was noisily sending the blood coursing around his body. He began to hear a ringing in his ears.

В«But you took them out again, didn't you? They're here, aren't they?В»

The old woman shook her head.

«I didn't have time. You remember how quickly and unexpectedly we had to flee. They were left in the chair… the one between the terracotta lamp and the fireplace».

В«But that was madness! You're just like your daughterВ», shouted Ippolit Matveyevich loudly.

And no longer concerned for the fact that he was at the bedside of a dying woman, he pushed back his chair with a crash and began prancing about the room.

В«I suppose you realize what may have happened to the chairs? Or do you think they're still there in the drawing-room in my house, quietly waiting for you to come and get your jewellery?В» The old woman did not answer.

The registry clerk's wrath was so great that the pince-nez fell of his nose and landed on the floor with a tinkle, the gold nosepiece glittering as it passed his knees.

В«What? Seventy thousand roubles' worth of jewellery hidden in a chair! Heaven knows who may sit on that chair!В»

At this point Claudia Ivanovna gave a sob and leaned forward with her whole body towards the edge of the bed.