Darya Alexandrovna is a worn-out woman doing her best to take her children and leave her husband, but she is too much in the habit of loving him to do so. She knows she is ineffectual with her children even in ideal circumstances, and she knows things would be worse if she left. Still, when she hears her husband walk into her room, she assumes the pretense of packing to leave, though her face betrays her “bewilderment and suffering.” He calls her Dolly and tries to look humble and pitiful, but she can see that he is robust and healthy and she hates his good nature.

Stepan Arkadyevitch tells her his sister is coming, but his wife begins shrieking at him to go away. Stepan Arkadyevitch can usually be calm and pursue his routine with normalcy; however, in the face of this outburst he is undone. There is a lump in his throat and his eyes begin to fill with tears as he expresses his remorse to her until he stops with a sob. He asks her to consider their nine years together in comparison to a momentary passion; he would have said more, but her face shows even more pain and he stops. Again she screams at him to leave her room—and take his passion and his loathsomeness with him.

Rather than leave, Stepan Arkadyevitch breaks down and begs her forgiveness, for the sake of the children if nothing else. Darya Alexandrovna sits down and tries to speak. Her husband waits until she can control her emotions. She does not know which is worse: taking them from their father or leaving them in proximity to such a horrible man. Finally she asks him if they will ever be able to live together again. All he does is whine and ask himself what else he could have done.

Darya Alexandrovna is more convinced than ever that he is a repulsive, dishonorable man who never loved her and has turned out to be a complete stranger. When Stepan Arkadyevitch looks into her face, he is alarmed at the fury he sees there and knows she will not forgive him. Suddenly one of their children begins to cry in the room next door, and her face softens. Stepan Arkadyevitch wonders how she can love his child and yet hate him so strongly. When he prepares to follow her out of the room, Darya Alexandrovna threatens him that if he comes near her she will take the children and leave—but he can leave with his mistress.

After hollering at Matvey to make arrangements to put Anna in the sitting-room, Stepan Arkadyevitch puts on his fur coat, gives his valet ten roubles to pay for the housekeeping staff, and leaves. Darya Alexandrovna is bombarded with questions by the governess, and it is simply too much for the distraught woman to bear. She does still love her husband, which is why she is so hurt. Finally she tells the governess to send for her brother to bring the children a dinner or they will go hungry until evening like they did yesterday. She drowns her grief in her duties.