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By Root 3568 0

not fully aware how much this game had turned into an obsession. How slowly they had progressed from that first kiss, as she patiently cultivated the small flower of his trust and affection; how hesitantly it had grown from the cold, bare ground of his barren life. And what a sense of excitement it gave her to hold his small, bony form in her arms and feel him gradually spring into life. What was it, this result of her careful labours? Was it love? Was it affection? She supposed that, being life where before there was nothing, it must be. Above all, it gave her a strange and wonderful sense of possession. This, she thought, is mine. And since the completion of this process, the flowering, must be marriage, it seemed to her that when that took place, it would be the solution to everything.

As for Grigory, he allowed himself to be persuaded. Gradually, their innocent embraces became, for him, full of a new excitement. As his confidence grew he began to want, urgently, to explore her body and to possess her. And since she would only let him go so far, he understood well enough that they must be married if this new world of wonder was to be opened and revealed to him. All right then, I’ll do it and have her, he thought. We’ll get married.

And what then? He would lie with her. Her whole body would be his. The thought had become so thrilling that it made him laugh. What else would happen? He could hardly see beyond this except for one thing. As soon as we’re married, I’ll hit her in the face and give her a beating, he thought. That way I’ll be master in my own house. It wasn’t much, but it was the only thing he knew about marriage.

So it was that, one sunny evening, Natalia told her parents the good news. Now that Grigory had proposed, she felt such a sense of achievement that she almost forgot that they might not be pleased. It was a shock, therefore, when instead of smiling, her father went pale and then roared: ‘Never!’

‘But why?’ she stammered, taken aback.

‘Why? Because he’s a penniless factory labourer, that’s why! He hasn’t a yard of land. He hasn’t a horse. He’s got nothing but the clothes on his back! What the devil do you mean by asking me to accept such a son-in-law?’ He pounded his fist on the table. Then, turning to his wife: ‘Varya, Varya. First the child; then my son leaves; now this. What the devil am I supposed to do?’ And he buried his face in his hands.

Natalia looked at her mother. She too was pale, and shaking her head. ‘But he could help us,’ she explained, and told them her plan for having Grigory live with them. ‘It would mean we’d get his wages too.’

But after only a short pause her father went on, with a groan: ‘Yes, and then you’ll produce a brat of your own, and then where will we be?’

‘There are young men in the village who’d have you, you know,’ Varya said gently. ‘It’s better if you have your own place, Natalia. You’d find that out quite soon.’

‘You’re not to see this boy any more,’ Timofei interrupted. ‘I ought to take you back from that cursed factory, except …’ He threw up his hands helplessly. Except that he couldn’t afford to.

There, they all knew, lay the real point. But it was only because she was hurt that Natalia suddenly decided it was time to speak the truth.

‘The fact is,’ she said quietly, ‘that you don’t want me to marry at all because you need me here to support you. As for your talk of finding me a peasant with land, you can’t give me any dowry, so who’d have me? The boys in this village have enough girls to choose from. But I shall get married, whether you like it or not – and Grigory is the best chance you’ve got.’ It was humiliating, but true. She turned to walk out.

‘You’re only fifteen. I can refuse my consent,’ Timofei shouted after her. ‘I forbid you to see him.’

She went outside and started to walk out of the village. Only when she got to the river bank did she start to cry.

Inside the izba, Timofei put his head in his hands, Varya shook her head sadly, and Arina, who had said nothing, looked thoughtful and grim. She was sure of it now. Whatever happened, there