XV
As soon as it seemed possible, Nezhdanov went away to his room and locked himself in. He did not want to see any one, any one except Marianna. Her room was at the very end of the long corridor which intersected the whole top storey. Nezhdanov had only once, and then only for a few instants, been to her room; but it struck him that she would not be angry if he knocked at her door, that she even wished to have a talk with him. It was rather late, about ten o'clock; the Sipyagins, after the scene at dinner, had not thought it necessary to disturb him, and were still playing cards with Kallomyetsev. Valentina Mihalovna had twice inquired after Marianna, as she too had vanished soon after dinner.
'Where is Marianna Vikentyevna?' she asked first in Russian, then in French, not addressing herself to any one in particular, but rather to the walls, as people are wont to do when they are greatly astonished; but soon she too was absorbed in the game.
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