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Prince Vasili said no more and his cheeks began to twitch

nervously, now on one side, now on the other, giving his face an

unpleasant expression which was never to be seen on it in a

drawing room. His eyes too seemed strange; at one moment they

looked impudently sly and at the next glanced round in alarm.

The princess, holding her little dog on her lap with her thin

bony hands, looked attentively into Prince Vasili's eyes

evidently resolved not to be the first to break silence, if she

had to wait till morning.

"Well, you see, my dear princess and cousin, Catherine

Semenovna," continued Prince Vasili, returning to his theme,

apparently not without an inner struggle; "at such a moment as

this one must think of everything. One must think of the future,

of all of you... I love you all, like children of my own, as you

know."

The princess continued to look at him without moving, and with

the same dull expression.