The mother and Nikolay, walking up to the window, watched the girl pass through the yard and disappear beyond the gate. Nikolay whistled quietly, sat down at the table and began to write.
"She'll occupy herself with this affair, and it'll be easier for her," the mother reflected.
"Yes, of course!" responded Nikolay, and turning around to the mother with a kind smile on his face, asked: "And how about you, Nilovna--did this cup of bitterness escape you? Did you never know the pangs for a beloved person?"
"Well!" exclaimed the mother with a wave of her hand. "What sort of a pang? The fear they had whether they won't marry me off to this man or that man?"
"And you liked no one?"
She thought a little, and answered:
"I don't recall, my dear! How can it be that I didn't like anybody? I sup
