So ended the earthly existence of this good and gentle creature, torn, God knows why, like an uprooted tree from its natural soil and at once thrown down with its roots in the air; she had faded and passed away leaving no trace, and no one mourned for her.

Malanya Sergyevna's maids pitied her, and so did even Piotr Andreitch.

The old man missed her silent presence.

"Forgive me...
farewell, my meek one!" he whispered, as he took leave of her the last time in church.

He wept as he threw a handful of earth in the grave.
He did not survive her long, not more than five years.