"Go, please, go then and call on the Bols," Kitty said to her
husband, when he came in to see her at eleven o'clock before
going out. "I know you are dining at the club; papa put down
your name. But what are you going to do in the morning?"

"I am only going to Katavasov," answered Levin.

"Why so early?"

"He promised to introduce me to Metrov. I wanted to talk to him
about my work. He's a distinguished scientific man from
Petersburg," said Levin.

"Yes; wasn't it his article you were praising so? Well, and
after that?" said Kitty.

"I shall go to the court, perhaps, about my sister's business."

"And the concert?" she queried.

"I shan't go there all alone."

"No? do go; there are going to be some new things.... That
interested you so. I should certainly go."

"Well, anyway, I shall come home before dinner," he said, looking
at his watch.

"Put on your frock coat, so that you can go straight to call on
Countess Bola."

"But is it absolutely necessary?"

"Oh, absolutely! He has been to see us. Come, what is it? You
go in, sit down, talk for five minutes of the weather, get up and
go away."

"Oh, you wouldn't believe it! I've got so out of the way of all
this that it makes me feel positively ashamed. It's such a
horrible thing to do! A complete outsider walks in, sits down,
stays on with nothing to do, wastes their time and worries
himself, and walks away!"

Kitty laughed.

"Why, I suppose you used to pay calls before you were married,
didn't you?"

"Yes, I did, but I always felt ashamed, and now I'm so out of the
way of it that, by Jove! I'd sooner go two days running without
my dinner than pay this call! One's so ashamed! I feel all the
while that they're annoyed, that they're saying, 'What has he
come for?'"

"No, they won't. I'll answer for that," said Kitty, looking into
his face with a laugh. She took his hand. "Well, good-bye....
Do go, please."

He was just going out after kissing his wife's hand, when she
stopped him.

"Kostya, do you know I've only fifty roubles left?"

"Oh, all right, I'll go to the bank and get some. How much?" he
said, with the expression of dissatisfaction she knew so well.

"No, wait a minute." She held his hand. "Let's talk about it,
it worries me. I seem to spend nothing unnecessary, but money
seems to fly away simply. We don't manage well, somehow."

"Oh, it's all right," he said with a little cough, looking at her
from under his