And having said this he would go--to play billiards. From there he would sometimes return home, but more often he would go carousing in some dirty hole with Routilov and Volodin. On such nights Varvara could not sleep. That is why she suffered from headaches. It was not so bad if he returned at one or two--then she could breathe freely. But if he did not turn up till the morning then the day found Varvara quite ill. At last Grushina had finished the letter and showed it to Varvara. They examined it for a long time and compared it with the Princess's letter of last year. Grushina assured her that the letter was so like the other that the Princess herself would not recognise the forgery. Although there was actually little resemblance, Varvara believed her. She also realised that Peredonov would not remember the Princess's unfamiliar handwriting so minutely that he would see it was a forgery. "At last!" she said joyously. "I have waited and waited, and I'd almost lost patience. But what shall I tell him about the envelope if he asks?" "You can't very well forge an envelope; there's the post-mark," said Grushina laughing as she looked at Varvara with her cunning unequal eyes, one of them wider open than the other. "What shall we do?" "Varvara Dmitrievna darling, just tell him that you threw the envelope into the fire. What's the good of an envelope?" Varvara's hopes revived. She said: "Once we're married, he won't keep me any longer on the run. I'll do the sitting and he can do the running for me." * * * * * On Saturday after dinner Peredonov went to play billiards. His thoughts were heavy and melancholy. He thought: "It's awful to live among hostile and envious people. But what can one do--they can't all be inspectors! That's the struggle for existence!" At the corner of two streets he met the Officer of the gendarmerie--an unpleasant meeting. Lieutenant-Colonel Nikolai Vadimovitch Roubovsky, a medium-sized, stout man with heavy eyebrows, cheerful grey eyes, and a limping gait which made his spurs jingle unevenly and loudly, was a very amiable person and was therefore popular in society. He knew all the people in town, all their affairs and relations, and loved to hear gossip, but was himself as discreet and silent as the grave, and caused no one any unnecessary unpleasantness. They stopped, greeted each other and entered into conversation. Peredonov looked frowningly on each side and said cautiously: "I hear that our Natasha is with you now. You mustn't believe anything she tells you about me, because she's lying." "I don't listen to servants' gossip," said Roubovsky with dignity. "She's really a bad one," said Peredonov, paying no attention to Roubovsky's remark; "her young man is a Pole; very likely she came to you on purpose to get hold of some official secret." "Please don't worry about that," said the Lieutenant-Colonel dryly. "I haven't any plans of fortresses in my possession."