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I don't condemn her for it, I don't blame her, for the one thing

left her is recollection of the past, and all the rest is dust

and ashes. Yes, yes, she is a lady of spirit, proud and

determined. She scrubs the floors herself and has nothing but

black bread to eat, but won't allow herself to be treated with

disrespect. That's why she would not overlook Mr. Lebeziatnikov's

rudeness to her, and so when he gave her a beating for it, she

took to her bed more from the hurt to her feelings than from the

blows. She was a widow when I married her, with three children,

one smaller than the other. She married her first husband, an

infantry officer, for love, and ran away with him from her

father's house. She was exceedingly fond of her husband; but he

gave way to cards, got into trouble and with that he died.