stood the aristocracy of the place: a landed proprietor, with his

wife and son (the latter dressed in a sailor's suit), the police

officer, the telegraph clerk, a tradesman in top-boots, and the

village elder, with a medal on his breast; and to the right of

the ambo, just behind the landed proprietor's wife, stood Matrona

Pavlovna in a lilac dress and fringed shawl and Katusha in a

white dress with a tucked bodice, blue sash, and red bow in her

Everything seemed festive, solemn, bright, and beautiful: the