Liudmilla walked in front. She lifted her skirt. She showed her small shoes and flesh-coloured stockings. Sasha looked on the ground, so as not to stumble over roots, and saw the stockings. It seemed to him that she had put on shoes without stockings. He flushed. He felt giddy. "If only I could fall suddenly before her," he thought, "snatch off her shoes, and kiss her delicate feet!" Liudmilla instinctively felt Sasha's passionate glance, his impatient desire. She laughed and turned to him with a question: "Are you looking at my stockings?" "No, I--er----" mumbled Sasha in confusion. "What dreadful stockings I've got on," said Liudmilla laughing and not listening to him. "It almost looks as if I had put my shoes on my bare feet--they're absolutely flesh-coloured. Don't you think they're dreadfully ridiculous stockings?" She turned her face to Sasha and lifted the hem of her dress. "Aren't they ridiculous?" she asked. "No, they're beautiful," said Sasha, red with embarrassment. Liudmilla pretended to be surprised, raised her eyebrows and exclaimed: "And what do you know about beauty?" Liudmilla laughed and walked on. Sasha, burning with confusion, walked uneasily after her, stumbling frequently. They managed to get through the hollow. They sat down on a birch trunk thrown down by the wind. Liudmilla said: "My shoes are full of sand. I can't go on any further." She took off her shoes, shook out the sand and looked archly at Sasha. "Do you think it's a pretty foot?" she asked. Sasha flushed even more and did not know what to say. Liudmilla pulled off her stockings. "Don't you think they're very white feet?" she asked and smiled strangely and coquettishly. "Down on your knees! Kiss them!" she said severely, and a commanding severity showed on her face. Sasha went down on his knees quickly and kissed Liudmilla's feet. "It's much nicer without stockings," said Liudmilla as she placed her stockings in her pocket and stuck her feet into her shoes. And her face again became gay and calm as if Sasha had not just been on his knees before her, kissing her naked feet. Sasha asked: "Won't you catch cold, dear?" His voice sounded tender and tremulous. Liudmilla laughed. "What a notion! I'm used to it. I'm not so delicate as that." * * * * * Liudmilla once came to Kokovkina's just before dusk and called Sasha: "Come and help me put up a new shelf." Sasha loved to knock nails in, and somehow he had promised to help Liudmilla in arranging her room. And now he eagerly consented, glad that there was an innocent pretext to go to Liudmilla's house. And now the innocent, pungent odour of essence of _muguet_ blew from Liudmilla's greenish dress and gently soothed him. For the work Liudmilla redressed herself behind a screen, and came out to Sasha in a short, spruce skirt, and short sleeves, perfumed with the pleasant, languid, pungent Japanese _funkia._ "Oh, but how spruced up you are!" said Sasha.