Vladimir Nabokov. El cuento de Navidad
Novodvortsev did.
"Thank you kindly," said the neighbor, soundlessly closing the door.
This insignificant interruption somehow weakened the image that had already been ripening. He recalled that, in "The Verge," Tumanov felt nostalgia for the pomp of former holidays. Mere repetition wouldn't do. Another recollection flashed inopportunely past. At a recent party some young woman had said to her husband, "In many ways you bear a strong resemblance to Tumanov." For a few days he felt very happy. But then he made the lady's acquaintance, and the Tumanov turned out to be her sister's