Lydia Constantinovna's bedroom was cold and gloomy. As , it contained a huge four-poster, a chest of drawers, a table and a wardrobe. The rain beat fiercely against the window running down in tiny glass globules.  
Lydia lighted two candles, and placed them beside the mirror. Some toilette , of her childhood, lay on the chest-of-drawers, and the contents of the baggage she had brought with her the previous day were about the room. The candles burnt dimly, their yellow tongues unsteadily over the tarnished mirror.
 
She changed her garments and put on a loose green neglige, then re- arranged her hair into plaits, forming them into a coronet which made her head appear very small and .
 
From force of habit she opened a bottle of perfume, moistened the palms of her hands and rubbed them over her neck and . At once she felt giddy, even the cold, dampish sheets on her bed seemed to smell of chipre.
 
Lydia sat down on the edge of her bed in her green negligé, listening to the sounds around her. Outside, there was a continuous howling and barking of dogs, now and then she could distinguish the of half-awakened crows in the park.
 
The clock struck eleven, then half-past, someone passed along the corridor, Aganka cleared up in the dining-room, Mintz walked to and fro in the drawing-room, then all became quiet.
 
Lydia Constantinovna went to the window and gazed out for a long time. Then, quietly, she left her bedroom and crept down to Ivanov's study. All around her it was dark, cold and silent as she passed through the empty, rooms. A forgotten candle still burnt in the drawing-room, and a rat ran out from under the table.
 
She was again in darkness when she entered Ivanov's study, and she was greeted by a smell of horse trappings and joiners' glue.
 
Ivanov was asleep on the sofa. He lay on his back, his arms extended; the outlines of his body could just be discerned. Lydia sat down quietly beside him and laid her hand on his breast. Ivanov sighed, drew in his arms and raised his head quickly from the pillow:
 
"Who is there?"
 
"It is I, Sergius—me—Lida," answered Lydia Constantinovna in a rapid whisper. "I know you do not wish to speak to me. I am bored … I returned ............