I only drew myself up, and thought, ‘Why is it my father is walking about in the garden at night?’ when everything was still again. In my horror I had dropped my knife in the grass, but I did not even attempt to look for it; I was very much ashamed of myself. I was completely sobered at once. On my way to the house, however, I went up to my seat under the elder-tree, and looked up at Zina�da’s window. The small slightly-convex panes of the window shone dimly blue in the faint light thrown on them by the night sky. All at once – their colour began to change� . Behind them – I saw this, saw it distinctly – softly and cautiously a white blind was let down, let down right to the window-frame, and so stayed.

‘What is that for?’ I said aloud almost involuntarily when I found myself