She made porridge for herself. The food they usually cooked she found indigestible, as she informed them with considerable irritation any time they called her through to eat. It just developed somehow. Alla Ivanovna even ate her porridge on her own, and preferred to take the bowl back to her room, making them feel guilty. She developed a taste for fruit yogurt, but was horrified when she heard the price, – more even than a pack of her cigarettes with a filter. She smoked the cheapest cigarettes, resisting attempts to persuade her to smoke anything less damaging to her health, even if offered it as a present, on the grounds that she could not afford it. She was not going to allow anyone else to afford it on her behalf. In order to get round her they had to pretend they were not doing it for
