Then, in that final picture of Marie Ivanovna and Semyonov he saw his own most miserable exclusion.
In the days that followed there was much work and he was forgotten.

He assisted in the bandaging-room; in later days he was to prove most efficient and capable, but at first he was shy and nervous and Semyonov, who seemed always to be present, did not spare him.
Then, quite suddenly, Marie Ivanovna changed.

She was kinder to him than she had ever been, yes, kinder than during those early days in Petrograd.

We all noticed the change in her.

When she was with him in the bandaging-room she whispered advice to him, helped him when she had a free moment, laughed with him, put him, of course, into a heaven of delight.