n to wipe the tears streaming down her cheeks.

The warden again approached them and reminded them that it was time to
part. Maslova rose.

"You are excited now. If possible I will call to-morrow. Meantime,
think it over," said Nekhludoff.

She made no answer, and without looking at him left the room, preceded
by the warden.

* * * * *

"Well, girl, good times are coming," said Korableva to Maslova when
the latter returned to the cell. "He seems to be stuck on you, so make
the most of it while he is calling. He will get you released. The rich
can do anything."

"That's so," drawled the watch-woman. "The poor man will think ten
times before he will marry, while the rich man can satisfy his every
whim. Yes, my dear; there was a respectable man in our village, and
he----"

"Have you spoken to him of my case?" asked the old woman.

But Maslova was silent. She lay down on her bunk, gazing with her
squinting eyes into the corner, and remained in that position till
evening. Her soul was in torment. That which Nekhludoff told her
opened to her that world in which she had suffered and which she had
left, hating without understanding it. She had now lost that
forgetfulness in which she had lived, and to live with a clear
recollection of the past was painful. In the evening she again bought
wine, which she drank with her fellow-prisoners.

CHAPTER XLVII.

"So, that is how it is!" thought Nekhludoff as he made his way out of
the prison, and he only now realized the extent of his guilt. Had he
not attempted to efface and atone for his conduct, he should never
have felt all the infamy of it, nor she all the wrong perpetrated
against her. Only now it all came out in all its horror. He now for
the first time perceived how her soul had been debased, and she
finally understood it. At first Nekhludoff had played with his
feelings and delighted in his own contrition; now he was simply
horrified. He now felt that to abandon her was impossible. And yet he
could not see the result of these relations.

At the prison gate some one handed Nekhludoff a note. He read it when
on the street. The note was written in a bold hand, with pencil, and
contained the following:

"Having learned that you are visiting the prison I thought
it would be well to see you. You can see me by asking the
authorities for an interview with me. I will tell you
something very important to your protege