Not only that, but there is a difference in the wares set out in the shops, an absence of taste, if you can understand what I mean, as though the shopkeepers themselves understood that they were catering for a new class of people." "It is the triumph of your _bourgeoisie_," the Russian declared.

"Your aristocrat is no longer able to survive.

_Noblesse oblige_ has no significance to the shopman.

He wants the fat cheques, and he caters for the people who can write them.

Let us pursue our reflections a little farther and in a different direction, my friend," he added, glancing at his watch.