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Rays of gentle light shone from her large, timid eyes. Those eyes

lit up the whole of her thin, sickly face and made it beautiful.

Her brother would have taken the icon, but she stopped him.

Andrew understood, crossed himself and kissed the icon. There was

a look of tenderness, for he was touched, but also a gleam of

irony on his face.

"Thank you, my dear." She kissed him on the forehead and sat down

again on the sofa. They were silent for a while.

"As I was saying to you, Andrew, be kind and generous as you

always used to be. Don't judge Lise harshly," she began. "She is

so sweet, so good-natured, and her position now is a very hard

one."

"I do not think I have complained of my wife to you, Masha, or

blamed her. Why do you say all this to me?"

Red patches appeared on Princess Mary's face and she was silent

as if she felt guilty.

"I have said nothing to you, but you have already been talked to.

And I am sorry for that," he went on.