He did not ask me the meaning of it all, but he wanted to ask, and I could not bear the look in his eyes.

He was afraid to look at me, but that is not all....

" Alexey Alexandrovitch would have referred to the bill that had been brought him, but his voice shook, and he stopped.

That bill on blue paper, for a hat and ribbons, he could not recall without a rush of self-pity.

"I understand, dear friend," said Lidia Ivanovna.