With such a view of life, she was by no means the lowest, but a very important person.  And Maslova prized this view of life more than anything; she could not but prize it, for, if she lost the importance that such a view of life gave her among men, she would lose the meaning of her life.  And, in order not to lose the meaning of her life, she instinctively clung to the set that looked at life in the same way as she did.  Feeling that Nekhludoff wanted to lead her out into another world, she resisted him, foreseeing that she would have to lose her place in life, with the self-possession and self-respect it gave her.  For this reason she drove from her the recollections of her early youth and her first relations with Nekhludoff.  These recollections did not correspond with her present conception of the world, and were therefore quite rubbed out of her mind, or, rather, lay somewhere buried and untouched, closed up and plastered over so that they should not escape, as when bees, in order to protect the result of their labour, will sometimes plaster a nest of worms.  Therefore, the present Nekhludoff was not the man she had once loved with a pure love, but only a rich gentleman whom she could, and must, make use of, and with whom she could only have the same relations as with men in general.

“No, I could not tell her the chief thing,” thought Nekhludoff, moving towards the front doors with the rest of the people.  “I did not tell her that I would marry her; I did not tell her so, but I will,” he thought.

The two warders at the door let out the visitors, counting them again, and touching each one with their hands, so that no extra person should go out, and none remain within.  The slap on his shoulder did not offend Nekhludoff this time; he did not even notice it.

CHAPTER XLV.

FANARIN, THE ADVOCATE—­THE PETITION.

Nekhludoff meant to rearrange the whole of his external life, to let his large house and move to an hotel, but Agraphena Petrovna pointed out that it was useless to change anything before the winter.  No one would rent a town house for the summer; anyhow, he would have to live and keep his things somewhere.  And so all his efforts to change his manner of life (he meant to live more simply:  as the students live) led to nothing.  Not only did everything remain as it was, but the house was suddenly filled with new activity.  All that was made of wool or fur was taken out to be aired and beaten.  The gate-keeper, the boy, the cook, and Corney himself took part in this activity.  All sorts of strange furs, which no one ever used, and various uniforms were taken out and hung on a line, then the carpets and furniture were brought out, and the gate-keeper and the boy rolled their sleeves up their muscular arms and stood beating these things, keeping strict time, while the rooms were filled with the smell of naphthaline.

When Nekhludoff crossed the yard or looked out of the window and saw all this going on, he was surprised at the great number of things there were, all quite useless.  Their only use, Nekhludoff thought, was the providing of exercise for Agraphena Petrovna, Corney, the gate-keeper, the boy, and the cook.