Petrovna and Stepan Trofimovitch had taken place)
the fire could be plainly seen. At daybreak, soon after five in the
morning, Liza was standing at the farthest window on the right looking
intently at the fading glow. She was alone in the room. She was wearing
the dress she had worn the day before at the matinee--a very smart light
green dress covered with lace, but crushed and put on carelessly and
with haste. Suddenly noticing that some of the hooks were undone in
front she flushed, hurriedly set it right, snatched up from a chair the
red shawl she had flung down when she came in the day before, and put
it round her neck. Some locks of her luxuriant hair had come loose and
showed below the shawl on her right shoulder. Her face looked weary and
careworn, but her eyes glowed under her frowning brows. She went up to
the window again and pressed her burning forehead against the cold pane.
The door opened and Nikolay Vsyevolodovitch came in.

"I've sent a messenger on horseback," he said. "In ten minutes we shall
hear all about it, meantime the servants say that part of the riverside
quarter has been burnt down, on the right side of the bridge near the
quay. It's been burning since eleven o'clock; now the fire is going
down."

He did not go near the window, but stood three steps behind her; she did
not turn towards him.

"It ought to have been light an hour ago by the calendar, and it's still
almost night," she said irritably.

"'Calendars always tell lies,'" he observed with a polite smile, but,
a little ashamed; he made haste to add: "It's dull to live by the
calendar, Liza."

And he relapsed into silence, vexed at the ineptitude of the second
sentence. Liza gave a wry smile.

"You are in such a melancholy mood that you cannot even find words to
speak to me. But you need not trouble, there's a point in what you said.
I always live by the calendar. Every step I take is regulated by the
calendar. Does that surprise you?"

She turned quickly from the window and sat down in a low chair.

"You sit down, too, please. We haven't long to be together and I want to
say anything I like.... Why shouldn't you, too, say anything you like?"

Nikolay Vsyevolodovitch sat beside her and softly, almost timidly took
her hand.

"What's the meaning of this tone, Liza? Where has it suddenly sprung
from? What do you mean by 'we haven't long to be together'? That's the
second mysterious phrase since you waked, half an hour ago."

"