Taking advantage of her absence, Chichikov turned to Sobakevitch (who, prone in an armchair, seemed, after his ponderous meal, to be capable of doing little beyond belching and grunting--each such grunt or belch necessitating a subsequent signing of the cross over the mouth), and intimated to him a desire to have a little private conversation concerning a certain matter.

At this moment the hostess returned.
"Here is more dessert," she said.

"Pray have a few radishes stewed in honey." "Later, later," replied Sobakevitch.

"Do you go to your room, and Paul Ivanovitch and I will take off our coats and have a nap." Upon this the good lady expressed her readiness to send for feather beds and cushions, but her husband expressed a preference for slumbering in an armchair, and she therefore departed.

When she had gone Sobakevitch inclined his head in an attitude of willingness to listen to Chichikov's business.