While, as a rule, the Count always took the stairs, when he approached the second-floor landing that night, on some ghostly whim he called for the elevator, assuming he would have it to himself. But when the doors slid open, there was the one-eyed cat. “Kutuzov!” he exclaimed in surprise. Taking in every detail of the Count’s appearance, the cat responded exactly as the Grand Duke had responded under similar circumstances many years before—that is, with a stern look and a disappointed silence. “Ahem,” said the Count, as he stepped onto the elevator while trying to tuck in his shirt without
...more
