sense of duty? Perhaps Marianna had not at all desired such a sacrifice! And what could have been contained in the letter? A call to immediate action? What then?
'And Markelov? He is in danger . . . and are we doing anything?' she asked herself. 'Markelov spares us both, gives us the chance of being happy, won't separate us . . . what is that? Magnanimity too . . . or contempt?
'And did we run away from that detestable house only to be together, billing and cooing like doves?'
Such were Marianna's meditations.. . . And stronger and stronger was the part played in her feelings by the same exasperated annoyance. However, her vanity had been wounded. Why had every one left her alone—every one?
This 'fat' woman had called her a beauty, a little bird . . . why not a doll at once? And why was it Nezhdanov had not gone alone but with Pavel? As though he needed some one to look after him! And after all, what were Solomin's convictions really? He wasn't a revolutionist at all! And was it possible anyone imagined that her attitude to it all was not a serious one?
Such were the thoughts that whirled chasing one another in confusion through Marianna's
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