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Rh ning she went to her room, telling Annushka to say that she had a headache.

"If he comes in spite of that, it will show that he loves me still; if not, it is over, and I shall make up my mind what there is for me to do."....

Late in the evening she heard his carriage-wheels on the pavement, his ring, and his steps, and his colloquy with the maid; he believed what he was told, he did not care to make any further inquiries, and he went to his room. Evidently all was at an end. And Death as the only means of establishing a love for her in his heart, of punishing him, and of winning the victory in the struggle which the evil spirit that had possession of her soul was waging with him, clearly, vividly, presented itself before her.

Now everything was a matter of indifference—whether they went to the country or not, whether she procured the divorce or not—it was unnecessary; the one essential thing was to punish him.

When she poured out her usual dose of opium, and it came over her that if she swallowed all that was in the vial she would die, it seemed so easy and simple that she felt a real joy in imagining how he would mourn, repent, and love her when it was too late. She lay on her bed with open eyes, and watched the dying candle-light on the molded cornice of the ceiling mingle with the shadow of the screen which divided the room; she vividly pictured to herself how he would think when she was no more, when she was only a memory. "How could I speak to her such cruel words?" He would say to himself. "How could I leave her without saying anything at all? and now she is no more; she has left us forever! She is there ...."

Suddenly the shadow of the screen seemed to waver and cover the whole cornice, the whole ceiling; other shadows from the other sides joined in with it; for an instant they seemed to be running, then with new rapidity they trembled, melted together, and all became dark.

"Death!" thought she; and such a great terror seized upon her, that for a long time she did not know where