“Oh, I really did not mean to hurt her feelings. I understand them so well and have the greatest respect for them.”

Princess Márya looked at him silently and smiled affectionately.

“I have known you a long time, you see, and am as fond of you as of a brother,” she said. “How do you find Andréy?” she added hurriedly, not giving him time to reply to her affectionate words. “I am very anxious about him. His health was better in the winter, but last spring his wound reopened and the doctor said he ought to go away for a cure. And I am also very much afraid for him spiritually. He has not a character like us women who, when we suffer, can weep away our sorrows. He keeps it all within him. Today he is cheerful and in good spirits, but that is the effect of your visit⁠—he is not often like that. If you could persuade him to go abroad. He needs activity, and this quiet regular life is very bad for him. Others don’t notice it, but I see it.”