Liudmilla laughed.
"And you?" she asked.
"What a question?" said Sasha with assurance. "I've learned the whole catechism."
Liudmilla laughed loudly. Sasha looked at her smiling and asked:
"If you're a pagan, why do you go to church?"
Liudmilla ceased laughing and reflected.
"Well," she said, "one has to pray. One has to pray, to weep, to burn a candle, and do something for the dead. And I love it all, the candles, the image-lamps, the incense, the vestments, the singing—if the singers are good—the ikons, with their trimmings and ribbons. Yes, all that is beautiful. And I also love Him ... you know ... the Crucified One...."
Liudmilla pronounced the last words very quietly, almost in a whisper, blushed like a guilty person and cast down her eyes.
"Do you know I sometimes dream of Him on the cross, and there are drops of blood on His body."