328
THE KREUTZER SONATA
English, we begin sincerely to believe that we are all moral people and live in a moral world. These maidens—poor maidens—believe this quite in earnest. Even thus my wife believed it. I remember how once, while engaged to her, I showed her my diary, from which she could tell, even though only in a slight degree, what my past had been, but more especially what my last liaison had been. This she might have learned from others, and I, for some reason, felt the necessity of informing her of it. I remember her terror, despair, and confusion, when she learned this and comprehended it. I saw that she wanted to give me up. Why did she not?"
He emitted his sound, gulped down another swallow of tea, and kept silent.
