Kseniya Ippolytovna's ancestral home had reared its columns for a century. It was of classic architecture, with pediment, balconied hall, echoing corridors, and furniture that seemed never to have been moved from the place it had occupied in her ' time.  
The old greeted her—the last descendant of the ancient name— with gloomy ; with cold, sombre apartments that were terrible by night, and thickly covered with the accumulated dust of many years. An ancient butler remained who recalled the former times and masters, the former baronial pomp and splendour. The housemaid, who no Russian, was brought by Kseniya.
 
Kseniya Ippolytovna established herself in her mother's rooms. She told the one ancient retainer that the household should be conducted as in her parents' day, with all the old rules and regulations. He thereupon informed her that it was customary in the times of the old masters for relatives and friends to gather together on Christmas Eve, while for the New Year all the of the district considered it their duty to come, even those who were uninvited. Therefore it was necessary for her to order in the provisions at once.
 
The old butler called Kseniya I............