Chapter VI.--Mental agony 58 Tolstoy's disappointment at the impossibility of awakening his wife's spiritual consciousness--Recognition that his further stay at Yasnaya Polyana is unnecessary--The harm that his staying there did to Sofya Andreyevna. Chapter VII.--The night of Tolstoy's going away 63 The last touch--Preparations and departure--Entries in the diary. Chapter VIII.--Tolstoy's relation to his wife 67 Letters to her in 1897 and after his departure--Reasons why he did not wish to see her. Chapter IX.--The motives that decided his going away 78 The last straw--Mistaken judgments about Tolstoy's going away. Chapter X.--The significance of Tolstoy's going away and of the whole spiritual achievement of his life 86 The one desire of his life, to do the will of God--The inevitability of the end. PART III TOLSTOY'S ATTITUDE TO HIS SUFFERINGS 94 The growth of his inner consciousness during the second period of his life. Extracts from the diary for 1884--Differences with his wife--On the border of despair--Feeling of solitude--Memory of his mother and his longing for her (1906)--Striving after God. Extracts from diary and letters from 1889-1910--Family trials--The cross of his life, till the end--His words about Sofya Andreyevna and consciousness of his guilt (from a conversation with, and the letters to Tchertkoff)--The mystery of another's soul--Tolstoy's thoughts that give a general meaning to his interpretation of suffering ("The Reading-Cycle," "The Way of Life"). Appendix I 139 The inevitable one-sidedness of quotations made from Tolstoy's writings for the purposes of the present narrative--His many-sided personality--His power of controlling his sufferings and his natural joy of life--The attainment of the true good. Appendix II 143 My personal attitude to Tolstoy's wife--The experience and observation of thirty years--My task is not to censure anyone but to vindicate truth. INTRODUCTION So much misunderstanding, misrepresentation, partiality and personal prejudice has accumulated in connection with the last years and days of Leo Nikolaevitch Tolstoy's life, that before starting upon this first detailed account of his "going away" I find myself compelled, at the risk of wearying the reader's patience, to begin with a somewhat lengthy introduction.