_From Márya Alexándrovna to Alexyéi Petróvitch_
VILLAGE OF ... NO, July 16, 1840.
You are coming hither, you will soon be with us, will you not, Alexyéi
Petróvitch? I will not conceal from you that this news both delights and
agitates me.... How shall we meet? Will that spiritual bond be preserved
which, so it seems to me, has already begun to unite us? Will it not
break when we meet? I do not know; I am apprehensive, for some reason or
other. I will not answer your last letter, although I might say a good
deal; I will defer all this until we meet. My mother is greatly
delighted at your coming.... She has been aware that I was corresponding
with you. The weather is enchanting. We will walk a great deal; I will
show you the new places which I have discovered ... one long, narrow
valley is particularly nice: it lies between hillocks, covered with
forest.... It seems to be hiding in their curves. A tiny brook blows
along it and can barely force its way through the grass and flowers....
You shall see. Come: perhaps you will not find it tedious.