the answer, and still at Koslowo.

It had been agreed between Louise and myself that I should go and see
him first, and inform him of her arrival. I asked the governor for a
pass, which he gave me without hesitation, and a Cossack conducted me to
a part of the town composed of some twenty houses enclosed within high
palisades, and guarded by sentries. We stopped before a door, and my
guide knocked. "Come in!" said a voice which I recognized as that of
Alexis.

When I opened the door, he was lying on his bed, dressed, and with a
book on the floor near him. I stopped upon the threshold. He stared at
me without speaking, and seemed hardly to believe his eyes.

"Well," said I, "have you forgotten me?"

At the sound of my voice, he sprang from his bed and threw his arms
round me. But the next instant he started back. "Good heavens!"
exclaimed he, "you are exiled, and I am probably the cause."

"No, indeed," I replied, "I come here as an amateur." He smiled
bitterly.

"As an amateur! Into the heart of Siberia! Explain your meaning. But
first--Louise--what of her?"

"I have just now left her."

"Just now? A month ago, you mean?"