apparent, in their behavior and their talk. There was much more
flattery, much more sweetness of speech than is common among people.
One could see that each spoke only to hide her innermost thoughts.
Every conversation ended as it began: with gossip about women who
were not zealous enough in matters of church attendance. And when
it came to that, Anna invariably blushed, simply because she was
afraid she might blush. Then, feeling the blood coming to her face,
she would try to hide her confusion, and would chatter away
ceaselessly, to show how punctual she was herself in church matters.
On taking leave, Anna's friends would exchange significant glances,
and Anna would have been either too stupid or else too wise not to
notice the sting of those sly looks.

As to Peter, he treated Anna fairly well; and when they happened to
quarrel, it was mostly her own fault. One night--it was long after
I had found out Anna's secret--I happened to be sleepless, and I
overheard Anna talking angrily to Peter. She was scolding him for
having forgotten to prepare oil for the lamp before the ikon of some
saint. It was that saint's day, and Khlopov had either forgotten or
neglected it. He was very careless in church matters, and Anna
never got tired of taking him to task for it. This time she didn't
leave off nagging him, till he lost patience, and said: "Were I
really as religious as you want me to be, I should have taken to
wife a woman who--well, who is a real Christian herself." Perhaps
Peter never meant to insult Anna by reminding her of that which she
wished to forget. Or perhaps Peter thought he had offered a valid
excuse. But Anna was offended and turned around crying.

The trouble with Anna was that she was very sensitive. That was a
trait of hers. When she heard something said about herself, she