One fall, returning from a hunt, I fell ill. A fever found me in a hotel in a county town. I sent for a doctor. The district doctor turned out to be a man of small stature, thin and black-haired. We got into a conversation, and he told me a story that I bring here.

Once, in Lent, doctors were called to the patient. She was the daughter of a poor landowner, a widow, and lived 20 miles from the city. The road was hellish, and the doctor hardly got to a small thatched house. The old landowner immediately led the doctor to the patient, whom her two sisters looked after. The sick girl was 20 years old. Carrying out the necessary procedures, the doctor noticed that his patient was a rare beauty.

After the patient fell asleep, the tired doctor was drunk with tea and put to bed, but he could not sleep. Finally, he could not stand it and went to look at the patient. The girl did not sleep, she again began fever and delirium. The next day, the patient did not feel better. The doctor felt a strong disposition towards her and decided to stay. The doctor also liked this family. They were poor people, but extremely educated. Their father was a scientist, writer. Books were the only wealth he left to the family. Doctors fell in love as a native.

Meanwhile, there was a terrible debauchery, even the medicine from the city was delivered with difficulty. The patient did not recover. So it went day after day. The patient, Alexandra Andreyevna, soon felt a friendly disposition towards the doctor, which she mistook for love. Meanwhile, she was getting worse. The whole family felt blind trust in the doctor, which placed a heavy burden on his shoulders. He spent nights all night at Alexandra’s bed, entertained her, and had long conversations with her. She took medicine only from his hands.

Gradually, the doctor began to realize that the girl would not survive. Alexandra also understood this. One night, she made the doctor tell her the truth and said she loved him. The doctor understood that this was not so - the girl was scared to die at 25 years old without experiencing love. Alexandra kissed the doctor, and he could not resist. She lived another three days and three nights, and every night the doctor spent with her. On the last night, the mother entered the room, and Alexandra told her that she was engaged to the doctor.

The next day, the girl died. Since then, the doctor managed to marry a lazy and evil merchant's daughter with a large dowry.