"Your praise is worth having. The tradition is kept up here that

you are the best of skaters," she said, with her little

black-gloved hand brushing a grain of hoarfrost off her muff.

"Yes, I used once to skate with passion; I wanted to reach

perfection."

"You do everything with passion, I think," she said smiling. "I

should so like to see how you skate. Put on skates, and let us

skate together."

"Skate together! Can that be possible?" thought Levin, gazing at

her.

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"I'll put them on directly," he said.

And he went off to get skates.

"It's a long while since we've seen you here, sir," said the

attendant, supporting his foot, and screwing on the heel of the

skate. "Except you, there's none of the gentlemen first-rate

skaters. Will that be all right?" said he, tightening the strap.

"Oh, yes, yes; make haste, please," answered Levin, with

difficulty restraining the smile of rapture which would

overspread his face. "Yes," he thought, "this now is life, this

is happiness! _Together,_ she said; _let us skate together!_ Speak

to her now? But that's just why I'm afraid to speak--because I'm

happy now, happy in hope, anyway.... And then?.... But I must!

I must! I must! Away with weakness!"

Levin rose to his feet, took off his overcoat, and scurrying over

the rough ice round the hut, came out on the smooth ice and

skated without effort, as it were, by simple exercise of will,

increasing and slackening speed and turning his course. He

approached with timidity, but again her smile reassured him.

She gave him her hand, and they set off side by side, going

faster and faster, and the more rapidly they moved the more

tightly she grasped his hand.

"With you I should soon learn; I somehow feel confidence in you,"

she said to him.

"And I have confidence in myself when you are leaning on me," he

said, but was at once panic-stricken at what he had said, and

blushed. And indeed, no sooner had he uttered these words, when

all at once, like the sun going behind a cloud, her face lost all

its friendliness, and Levin detected the familiar change in her

expression that denoted the working of thought; a crease showed

on her smooth brow.

"Is there anything troubling you?--though I've no right to ask

such a question," he added hurriedly.

"Oh, why so?.... No, I have nothing to trouble me," she

responded coldly; and she added immediately: "You haven't seen

Mlle. Linon, have you?"




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