/lit/ - Literature

How am I to interpret Semyon Yakovlevitch's distribution of tea and sugar?

>"But something must have been amiss with it, for the baron permitted himself a faint smile, though he, at once, with extraordinary courtesy, put in a phrase concerning the universal and befitting emotion of all Russian hearts in view of the great event. Shortly afterwards he took his leave and at parting did not forget to hold out two fingers to Stepan Trofimovitch."
what is the meaning of the two fingered gesture?

I'm still lead to believe the potential of this book, Im on chapter VIII and the characters have been thin so far, without the exclusion of frequent characters, stepan trofimovich and varvara stavrogin. Nothing have happened except bizarre anecdotes and the adored friendship of stepan and varvara. It was honestly fun, despite the negative commentaries dropped. When will it become riveting?