Peter drew away, stood up, and walked to the edge of the clearing, his arms folded. “You are not in your right mind,” he said. “You are half crazed with grief and it would be wrong of me to take advantage.”

Maria felt close to tears. “I need this,” she said. “I need something good and true to help me replace the awful memories of the last weeks.” As she spoke, she was picturing Bolotov’s attack on her in the bathroom two months earlier, rather than the massacre. “I know you are a good man, and I am asking—no, begging you to make love to me.” Her voice quavered.

Peter paced around, without looking at her.

“I think your father would say it was the right thing to do,” she added softly.

At last he came and sat by her again, cupping her face in his strong fingers and looking into her eyes. “I will do as you wish, but tell me straightaway if you want me to stop.” He began to caress her slowly, his mouth on her neck, the inside of her wrist, the swell of her breast. It was glorious to feel such sensations and soon she was completely caught up in the moment.

Only when he raised the hem of her skirt did she freeze for a second, thinking of the pain of Bolotov’s assault. Would this feel the same? Peter sensed her hesitation and stopped immediately, but she urged him on: “No—please. I want you to.” She was scared but very sure.

Gently he placed his fingers on her private parts and she gave a sob of joy and wriggled her hips toward him. By the time he entered her, she felt as if her entire body had turned to liquid. It hurt a lot, but was exquisite at the same time. She felt they were bound together, made of one flesh, just as she had always dreamed it would be with a man.

“I love you,” she whispered in his ear. When it was finished and she lay in his arms, with tree branches waving against the brilliant, almost-full moon, she repeated the words, then said, “I wish we could be married. I don’t want any other man. Just you: Peter Vasnetsov.”

He hugged her tighter, kissed her brow, the tip of her nose. “I love you too,” he said, his voice cracking with emotion. “You have no idea how much I love you!”

“Really?” She was amazed at this. “Why do you love me?”