Towards the end of May, when everything had been more or less

satisfactorily arranged, she received her husband's answer to her

complaints of the disorganized state of things in the country.

He wrote begging her forgiveness for not having thought of

everything before, and promised to come down at the first chance.

This chance did not present itself, and till the beginning of

June Darya Alexandrovna stayed alone in the country.

On the Sunday in St. Peter's week Darya Alexandrovna drove to

mass for all her children to take the sacrament. Darya

Alexandrovna in her intimate, philosophical talks with her

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sister, her mother, and her friends very often astonished them by

the freedom of her views in regard to religion. She had a

strange religion of transmigration of souls all her own, in which

she had firm faith, troubling herself little about the dogmas of

the Church. But in her family she was strict in carrying out all

that was required by the Church--and not merely in order to set

an example, but with all her heart in it. The fact that the

children had not been at the sacrament for nearly a year worried

her extremely, and with the full approval and sympathy of Marya

Philimonovna she decided that this should take place now in the

summer.

For several days before, Darya Alexandrovna was busily

deliberating on how to dress all the children. Frocks were made

or altered and washed, seams and flounces were let out, buttons

were sewn on, and ribbons got ready. One dress, Tanya's, which

the English governess had undertaken, cost Darya Alexandrovna

much loss of temper. The English governess in altering it had

made the seams in the wrong place, had taken up the sleeves too

much, and altogether spoilt the dress. It was so narrow on

Tanya's shoulders that it was quite painful to look at her. But

Marya Philimonovna had the happy thought of putting in gussets,

and adding a little shoulder-cape. The dress was set right, but

there was nearly a quarrel with the English governess. On the

morning, however, all was happily arranged, and towards ten

o'clock--the time at which they had asked the priest to wait for

them for the mass--the children in their new dresses, with

beaming faces, stood on the step before the carriage waiting

for their mother.

To the carriage, instead of the restive Raven, they had

harnessed, thanks to the representations of Marya Philimonovna,

the bailiff's horse, Brownie, and Darya Alexandrovna, delayed by

anxiety over her own attire, came out and got in, dressed in a

white muslin gown.

Darya Alexandrovna had done her hair, and dressed with care and

excitement. In the old days she had dressed for her own sake to

look pretty and be admired. Later on, as she got older, dress

became more and more distasteful to her. She saw that she was

losing her good looks. But now she began to feel pleasure and

interest in dress again. Now she did not dress for her own sake,

not for the sake of her own beauty, but simply that as the mother

of those exquisite creatures she might not spoil the general

effect. And looking at herself for the last time in the

looking-glass she was satisfied with herself. She looked nice.

Not nice as she would have wished to look nice in old days at a

ball, but nice for the object which she now had in view.




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