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"Stiva!" said Levin unexpectedly; "how is it you don't tell me

whether your sister-in-law's married yet, or when she's going to

be?"

Levin felt so resolute and serene that no answer, he fancied,

could affect him. But he had never dreamed of what Stepan

Arkadyevitch replied.

"She's never thought of being married, and isn't thinking of it;

but she's very ill, and the doctors have sent her abroad. They're

positively afraid she may not live."

"What!" cried Levin. "Very ill? What is wrong with her? How has

she...?"

While they were saying this, Laska, with ears pricked up, was

looking upwards at the sky, and reproachfully at them.

"They have chosen a time to talk," she was thinking. "It's on the

wing.... Here it is, yes, it is. They'll miss it," thought Laska.