"No gratitude, I beg of you; it is better so,"--hastily returned Lavretzky.--"Accordingly,"--he went on, approaching the door:--"I may count upon...." "To-morrow I shall be at Lavriki,"--said Varvara Pavlovna, respectfully rising from her seat.--"But, Feodor Ivanitch" (she no longer called him Theodore).... "What do you want?" "I know that I have, as yet, in no way earned my forgiveness; may I hope, at least, in time...." "Ekh, Varvara Pavlovna,"--Lavretzky interrupted her:--"you are a clever woman, and as I am not a fool, I know that that is quite unnecessary for you. And I forgave you long ago; but there was always a gulf between us." "I shall know how to submit,"--replied Varvara Pavlovna, and bowed her head. "I have not forgotten my fault; I should not be surprised to learn that you were even delighted at the news of my death,"--she added gently, pointing slightly with her hand at the copy of the newspaper which lay on the table, forgotten by Lavretzky. Feodor Ivanitch shuddered: the feuilleton was marked with a pencil. Varvara Pavlovna gazed at him with still greater humility. She was very pretty at that moment. Her grey Paris gown gracefully clothed her willowy form, which was almost that of a girl of seventeen; her slender, delicate neck encircled with a white collar, her bosom which rose and fell evenly, her arms devoid of bracelets and rings,--her whole figure, from her shining hair to the tip of her barely revealed little boot, was so elegant.... Lavretzky swept an angry glance over her, came near exclaiming: "Brava!" came near smiting her in the temple with his fist--and left the room. An hour later, he had already set out for Vasilievskoe, and two hours later, Varvara Pavlovna gave orders that the best carriage in town should be engaged, donned a simple straw hat with a black veil, and a modest mantle, entrusted Ada to Justine, and set out for the Kalitins: from the inquiries instituted by her servant she had learned that her husband was in the habit of going to them every day. XXXVIII