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"I must inform her of my conclusion, that thinking over the

terrible position in which she has placed her family, all other

solutions will be worse for both sides than an external status

quo, and that such I agree to retain, on the strict condition of

obedience on her part to my wishes, that is to say, cessation of

all intercourse with her lover." When this decision had been

finally adopted, another weighty consideration occurred to Alexey

Alexandrovitch in support of it. "By such a course only shall I

be acting in accordance with the dictates of religion," he told

himself. "In adopting this course, I am not casting off a guilty

wife, but giving her a chance of amendment; and, indeed,

difficult as the task will be to me, I shall devote part of my

energies to her reformation and salvation."