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 house is all melted and we can't get any more. As for your spiced meats, mamma assures me that she has never eaten any better," she added, adjusting, with a smile, the housekeeper's loosened neckerchief.

Agafya Mikhaïflovna looked angrily at Kitty. "Do not try to console me, baruinya. To see you with him is enough to content me."

This familiar way of speaking of her master touched Kitty.

"Come and show us the best places to find mushrooms."

The old woman raised her head, smiling, as if to say, "One would gladly guard you from all hatred, if it were possible."

"Follow my advice, please, and put over each pot of jelly a round piece of paper soaked in rum, and you will not need ice in order to preserve them," said the princess.

CHAPTER III

was especially glad of the opportunity to be alone with her husband, because she had noticed how a shadow of dissatisfaction had crossed his telltale face when he stepped on the terrace and asked what they were talking about, and no one replied.

As they walked along in front of the others, and, losing sight of the house, took to the well-trodden, dusty road, bestrewn with rye and corn, she seized his hand and pressed it against her side. He had already forgotten the momentary unpleasant impression, and now that he was alone with her, and while the thought of her approaching maternity did not for an instant escape from his mind, he experienced a novel joy in the sense of the presence of a beloved woman—a joy perfectly free from anything sensual. There was nothing special to talk about, but he liked to hear the sound of her voice, which, like the expression of her eyes, had changed, owing to her condition. In her voice, as well as in her