And with her trembling hands she even adjusted her black silk dress.
Sergey did not know that the colonel, having locked himself all the previous night in his little study, had deliberated upon this ritual with all his power.

"We must not aggravate, but ease the last moments of our son," resolved the colonel firmly, and he carefully weighed every possible phase of the conversation, every act and movement that might take place on the following day.

But somehow he became confused, forgetting what he had prepared, and he wept bitterly in the corner of the oilcloth-covered couch.

In the morning he explained to his wife how she should behave at the meeting.
"The main thing is, kiss--and say nothing!" he taught her.

"Later you may speak--after a while--but when you kiss him, be silent.