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But she was mistaken in thinking he realized the gravity of the

fact as she, a woman, realized it. On hearing it, he felt come

upon him with tenfold intensity that strange feeling of loathing

of someone. But at the same time, he felt that the turning-point

he had been longing for had come now; that it was impossible to

go on concealing things from her husband, and it was inevitable

in one way or another that they should soon put an end to their

unnatural position. But, besides that, her emotion physically

affected him in the same way. He looked at her with a look of

submissive tenderness, kissed her hand, got up, and, in silence,

paced up and down the terrace.

"Yes," he said, going up to her resolutely. "Neither you nor I

have looked on our relations as a passing amusement, and now our

fate is sealed. It is absolutely necessary to put an end"-he

looked round as he spoke-"to the deception in which we are

living."

"Put an end? How put an end, Alexey?" she said softly.