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Twenty years before, when Dolly was a child, the lodge had been

roomy and comfortable, though, like all lodges, it stood sideways

to the entrance avenue, and faced the south. But by now this

lodge was old and dilapidated. When Stepan Arkadyevitch had gone

down in the spring to sell the forest, Dolly had begged him to

look over the house and order what repairs might be needed.

Stepan Arkadyevitch, like all unfaithful husbands indeed, was

very solicitous for his wife's comfort, and he had himself looked

over the house, and given instructions about everything that he

considered necessary. What he considered necessary was to cover

all the furniture with cretonne, to put up curtains, to weed the

garden, to make a little bridge on the pond, and to plant

flowers. But he forgot many other essential matters, the want of

which greatly distressed Darya Alexandrovna later on.