the
afternoon."

"Nicholas!" Nina repeated scornfully. "As though he could help anybody."
She looked up. Vera told me afterwards that it was at that moment, when
Nina looked such a baby with her tumbled hair and her flushed cheeks
stained with tears, that she realised her love for her with a fierceness
that for a moment seemed to drown even her love for Lawrence. She caught
her to her and hugged her, kissing her again and again.

But Nina was suspicious. There were many things that had to be settled
between Vera and herself. She did not respond, and Vera let her go. She
went into her room, to take off her things.

Afterwards they lit the samovar and boiled some eggs and put the caviare
and sausage and salt fish and jam on the table. At first they were
silent, and then Nina began to recover a little.

"You know, Vera, I've had an extraordinary day. There were no trams
running, of course, and I had to walk all the distance. When I got there
I found Katerina Ivanovna in a terrible way because their Masha--whom
they've had for years, you know--went to a Revolutionary meeting last
evening, and was out all night, and she came in this morning and said
she wasn't going to work for them any more, that every one was equal
now, and that they must do things for themselves. Just fancy! When she's
been with them for years and they've been so good to her. It upset
Katerina Ivanovna terribly, because of course they couldn't get any one
else, and there was no food in the house."

"Perhaps Sacha won't come back again."

"Oh, she must! _She's_ not like that... and we've been so good to her.
_Nu... Patom_, some soldiers came early in the afternoon and they said
that some policeman had been firing from Katya's windows and they must
search the flat. They were very polite--quite a young student was in
charge of them, he was rather like Boris--and they went all over
everything. They were very polite, but it wasn't nice seeing them stand
there with their rifles in the middle of the dining-room. Katya offered
them some wine. But they wouldn't touch it. They said they had been told
not to, and they looked quite angry with her for offering it. They
couldn't find the policeman anywhere of course, but they told Katya they
might have to burn the house down if they didn't find him. I think they
just said it to amuse themselves. But Katya believed it, and was in a
terrible way and began collecting all her china in the middle of the
floor, and t