Landau was sitting at the window, leaning on his elbow and the back of his chair, his head drooping.

Noticing that all eyes were turned on him he raised his head and smiled a smile of childlike artlessness.

"Don't take any notice," said Lidia Ivanovna, and she lightly moved a chair up for Alexey Alexandrovitch.

" I have observed..." she was beginning, when a footman came into the room with a letter.

Lidia Ivanovna rapidly ran her eyes over the note, and excusing herself, wrote an answer with extraordinary rapidity, handed it to the man, and came back to the table.