[ IP ] An Evening in St Petersburg

The horses did n't like the rain, snorting and tossing at the reins. I did n't blame them. It was another miserable afternoon, sodden and gray. Only a fool would be out in this weather, and I cursed the man for making me wait out in the cold. I could n't wait in the carriage itself for fear of ruining the upholstery and the seat out was just as exposed to the rain. So I stood with the unhappy beasts, warming myself by their steaming flanks. 
 
 Hah! He could n't even invite me into the corridor to wait while he went calling. I was standing out here in the wet and the master would be sipping warm brandy in the parlor, laughing with the ladies. I glowered at the mansion doors. Ugly things they were, for forbidding a man to escape the damp. The knocker was a smug affair of brass in the shape of a lion's head. I considered going up there and giving it a few solid thumps but settled for spitting to the side. 
 
 I drew out my pocketwatch. Half an hour he'd said and it was more than two past. I shivered to myself. The wind blew and with the scattered rain even lighting a cigarette would be impossible. My stomach grumbled as the butcher's cart trundled away, no doubt as eager to escape the rain as I. 
 
 Dinner had been steak - not something I saw too often, times being what they are. Now the missus would have cleared it all away and boiled the meat for soup. Soup! Another evening making do with bread and cheese. It was enough to make a man lose his faith.
