Part 42

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"And the end?" perchance some dissatisfied reader will say. "And what became of Lavrétzky? of Liza?" But what can one say about people who are still alive, but who have already departed from the earthly arena,--why revert to them? They say that Lavrétzky paid a visit to that distant convent where Liza had hidden herself--and saw her. In going from one choir to the other, she passed close to him--passed with the even, hurriedly-submissive gait of a nun--and did not cast a glance at him; only the lashes of the eye which was turned toward him trembled almost imperceptibly, and her haggard face was bowed a little lower than usual--and the fingers of her clasped hands, interlaced with her rosary, were pressed more tightly to one another. What did they both think,--what did they both feel? Who knows? Who shall say? There are moments in life, there are feelings ... we can only indicate them,--and pass by.

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The trotter as shaft-horse, and the galloping side-horses of a troïka.--Translator.