As to Peter, he treated Anna fairly well; and when they happened to
quarrel, it was mostly her own fault. One night--it was long after
I had found out Anna's secret--I happened to be sleepless, and I
overheard Anna talking angrily to Peter. She was scolding him for
having forgotten to prepare oil for the lamp before the ikon of some
saint. It was that saint's day, and Khlopov had either forgotten or
neglected it. He was very careless in church matters, and Anna
never got tired of taking him to task for it. This time she didn't
leave off nagging him, till he lost patience, and said: "Were I
really as religious as you want me to be, I should have taken to
wife a woman who--well, who is a real Christian herself." Perhaps
Peter never meant to insult Anna by reminding her of that which she
wished to forget. Or perhaps Peter thought he had offered a valid
excuse. But Anna was offended and turned around crying.
The trouble with Anna was that she was very sensitive. That was a
trait of hers. When she heard something said about herself, she
never was satisfied with the plain meaning of what was said, but
tried to give the words every other possible meaning.
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