The external relations of Alexey Alexandrovitch and his wife had

remained unchanged. The sole difference lay in the fact that he

was more busily occupied than ever. As in former years, at the

beginning of the spring he had gone to a foreign watering-place

for the sake of his health, deranged by the winter's work that

every year grew heavier. And just as always he returned in July

and at once fell to work as usual with increased energy. As

usual, too, his wife had moved for the summer to a villa out of

town, while he remained in Petersburg. From the date of their

conversation after the party at Princess Tverskaya's he had never

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spoken again to Anna of his suspicions and his jealousies, and

that habitual tone of his bantering mimicry was the most

convenient tone possible for his present attitude to his wife.

He was a little colder to his wife. He simply seemed to be

slightly displeased with her for that first midnight

conversation, which she had repelled. In his attitude to her

there was a shade of vexation, but nothing more. "You would not

be open with me," he seemed to say, mentally addressing her; "so

much the worse for you. Now you may beg as you please, but I

won't be open with you. So much the worse for you!" he said

mentally, like a man who, after vainly attempting to extinguish a

fire, should fly in a rage with his vain efforts and say, "Oh,

very well then! you shall burn for this!" This man, so subtle

and astute in official life, did not realize all the

senselessness of such an attitude to his wife. He did not

realize it, because it was too terrible to him to realize his

actual position, and he shut down and locked and sealed up in his

heart that secret place where lay hid his feelings towards his

family, that is, his wife and son. He who had been such a

careful father, had from the end of that winter become peculiarly

frigid to his son, and adopted to him just the same bantering

tone he used with his wife. "Aha, young man!" was the greeting

with which he met him.

Alexey Alexandrovitch asserted and believed that he had never in

any previous year had so much official business as that year.

But he was not aware that he sought work for himself that year,

that this was one of the means for keeping shut that secret place

where lay hid his feelings towards his wife and son and his

thoughts about them, which became more terrible the longer they

lay there. If anyone had had the right to ask Alexey

Alexandrovitch what he thought of his wife's behavior, the mild

and peaceable Alexey Alexandrovitch would have made no answer,

but he would have been greatly angered with any man who should

question him on that subject. For this reason there positively

came into Alexey Alexandrovitch's face a look of haughtiness and

severity whenever anyone inquired after his wife's health.

Alexey Alexandrovitch did not want to think at all about his

wife's behavior, and he actually succeeded in not thinking about

it at all.




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