1. “Monte Cristo . . . haletant:” “Monte Cristo straightened up, panting . . .” From The Count of Monte Cristo, by Alexandre Dumas (1802–1870).
2. Ce que vous êtes pour moi: “What you are for me.” Russian aristocrats often spoke in French, especially in personal conversation.
3. Wie befinden Sie sich?: “how are you?”
4. Ja, ja . . . zehr gut: “Yes, yes, yes indeed, yes indeed, very good.”
5. Erlauben Sie . . . faule Leute: “Permit me.” “Come along.” “Good morning, Mister Schaaf, good morning . . .” “Morning, morning, only not today, so all lazy people say.”
6. Gnädige Frau. . .: “Madam.”
7. Es ist unerhört: “This is outrageous.”
8. Mon enfant . . . le dîner: “My child, you had better put on another dress for dinner.”
9. Like Tatyana: Tatyana is the heroine of Evgeny Onegin, a novel in verse by Alexander Pushkin (1799–1837). She speaks these words near the end of the book (Chapter Eight, stanza XLVII), confessing that she still loves Onegin as she dismisses him from her life.
10. On n’entre pas . . . ne convient pas: “One does not come into a room like that . . . It isn’t proper.”
11. Vera, allez . . . monsieur: “Vera, go on ahead with the gentleman.”
12. Beau ténébreux: “Dark handsome stranger.”
13. Quelle tirade!: “What a tirade!”
14. Paul de Kock . . .Montfermeil: Paul de Kock (1793–1871) was a prolific novelist of Parisian low life. He published The Milkmaid of Montfermeil in 1827.
15. Souvent femme varie: “Woman often changes.”
16. Provincial Talleyrand: Prince Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Perigord (1754–1838), served as minister in French governments from Louis XIV on through the Revolution, Napoleon I, Louis XVIII, Charles X and Louis-Philippe, and represented France at the Congress of Vienna. A skillful diplomat and politician, he is sometimes portrayed as a schemer and even a traitor.