Yekaterina

The sleeve's two inches short. For a coat that only has to last until spring, that's hardly a flaw.

• Mikhail FyodorovichTwo inches shows, Your Highness. This court looks at a sleeve before it looks at a face.
  YekaterinaThen you hold the pins in your mouth.
  Mikhail FyodorovichI haven't got teeth left to hold them with.
• DashaI press that coat every single day! I did not start that talk about the two inches!!
  YekaterinaNo one said it was you.

The clock stopped at that hour, two years ago. I never told anyone to fix it.

• OsipChanged the lamp oil twice through the night.
  YekaterinaThree times.
  OsipThree times.
• Mikhail FyodorovichSleep is cheaper to buy than paper, Your Highness.
  YekaterinaIt's your paper that's expensive.

The portraitist sat three days trying to capture this face. For three days straight, my mind was elsewhere.

• Pyotr RyabinI covered the cost of that portrait. I'll bill the three days separately.
  YekaterinaPut it on the account. I'll settle it all come spring.
  Pyotr Ryabin'Spring' is the collateral with the steepest interest these days, Your Highness.
• IrinaThe painter said he couldn't capture your mouth.
  YekaterinaHe saw correctly, then.