Katherina Andreievna huddled beneath the brightly<br >embroidered comforter. Her heart pounded wildly，<br >and a lump of apprehension grew in her throat.<br > The last guests had left the estate more than an<br >hour before. At any moment， Count Pavel Pavlovich<br >Ostrov would open the large oak door， crawl into<br >bed beside her， and demand his full rights as a hus-<br >banct<br > For the first time since the announcement of her<br >engagement almost three months ago， Katherina felt<br >a stab of uncertainty. The decision to marry Pavel<br >Pavlovieh had been hers alone. Indeed， her mother<br >had tried desperately to talk her out of the match，<br >but Katherina had been convinced that they would<br >have a good marriage. The count was kind， intelligent，<br >and jovial Katherina had always felt at ease with<br >him， and even though be was thirty years older than<br >~he， she was sure he had a great deal of affeelSon for<br >her. In her younger years， she bad rejected the pro-<br >posals of at least three rich and handsome young men，<br >~~hom she judged empty-headed. Now， at twenty-<br >ave， she could no longer afford to be too choosy.<br > During the months of her engagement， life had<br >~een a flurry of uninterrupted activity. Her marriage<br >:o an influential member of Russia s Council of State<br >vas the most important social event of the season in<br >~lovgorod. Any doubts Katherina may have had were<br >~uried under the avalanche of details. Only now， as<br >he lay shivering， waiting for the an~val of the strang-<br >