“I endured a lot and forgave you. When you tried to strangle me with a pillow, I laughed. — Oh, come on, she just happened to fall on you! — Yes, and you fell on top of it and pressed it firmly to my face!
— I was checking how firm it was—only that! — With me, you can get away with a lot. But how could you beat Lady Jane with a hockey stick in front of the whole court?!
— You explained the rules of the game badly to me!” I burst out.
“Didn't you say: hit hard and precisely!”
— Hit the ball, Anna!— he closed his eyes and suddenly switched to a whisper.
“Her hands were holding the ball; I was trying to knock it out of her,” I said, spreading my hands. The emperor closed his eyes and, it seemed, was ready to cry. Wouldn’t it be appropriate to tell this noble blockhead that his former fiancée promised to put poison in my food—and I explained to her that it was reckless and immature…”