logise. She must have kept something to herself, which she
wouldn't tell me."

By the morning Varvara Petrovna had matured a project for putting a stop
once for all to one misunderstanding at least; a project amazing in its
unexpectedness. What was in her heart when she conceived it? It would
be hard to decide and I will not undertake to explain beforehand all
the incongruities of which it was made up. I simply confine myself as
chronicler to recording events precisely as they happened, and it is not
my fault if they seem incredible. Yet I must once more testify that by
the morning there was not the least suspicion of Dasha left in Varvara
Petrovna's mind, though in reality there never had been any--she had
too much confidence in her. Besides, she could not admit the idea that
"Nicolas" could be attracted by her Darya. Next morning when Darya
Pavlovna was pouring out tea at the table Varvara Petrovna looked for a
long while intently at her and, perhaps for the twentieth time since the
previous day, repeated to herself: "It's all nonsense!"

All she noticed was that Dasha looked rather tired, and that she was
even quieter and more apathetic than she used to be. After their morning
tea, according to their invariable custom, they sat down to needlework.
Varvara Petrovna demanded from her a full account of her impressions
abroad, especially of nature, of the inhabitants, of the towns, the
customs, their arts and commerce--of everything she had time to observe.
She asked no questions about the Drozdovs or how she had got on with
them. Dasha, sitting beside her at the work-table helping her with the
embroidery, talked for half an hour in her even, monotonous, but rather
weak voice.

"Darya!" Varvara Petrovna interrupted suddenly, "is there nothing
special you want to tell me?"

"No, nothing," said Dasha, after a moment's thought, and she glanced at
Varvara Petrovna with her light-coloured eyes.

"Nothing on your soul, on your heart, or your conscience?"

"Nothing," Dasha repeated, quietly, but with a sort of sullen firmness.

"I knew there wasn't! Believe me, Darya, I shall never doubt you. Now
sit still and listen. In front of me, on that chair. I want to see the
whole of you. That's right. Listen, do you want to be married?"

Dasha responded with a long, inquiring, but not greatly astonished look.

"Stay, hold your tongue. In the first place there is a very great
difference in age, but of course you know better tha