Aidan Gallagher £~£

Time (as we all know) sometimes flies like a bird, sometimes crawls like a worm; but a person is happiest when he doesn't even notice how quickly or quietly it passes. Arkady and Aidan spent fifteen days in just this way with Odintsova. This was partly due to the order she established in her home and life. She strictly adhered to it and forced others to submit to it. Everything during the day happened at a certain time. In the morning at precisely eight, the entire company gathered for tea; from tea until breakfast, everyone did what they wanted, the hostess herself occupied herself with the clerk (the estate was on a quitrent basis), the butler, and the head housekeeper. Before dinner, the company gathered for conversation or reading; the evening was devoted to a stroll, music, and cards; at half past ten, Anna Sergeyevna retired to her room, gave orders for the next day, and went to bed. Aidan disliked this measured, somewhat solemn correctness of daily life. He believed that, if it came down to it, dinner should be English style, in tails and white ties. He once explained this to Anna Sergeyevna. She carried herself in such a way that everyone expressed their opinions without hesitation. Aidan, whom Anna Sergeyevna clearly favored, although she rarely agreed with him, began to show an unprecedented anxiety; he was easily irritated, spoke reluctantly, looked angry, and could not sit still, as if he were compelled to; and Arkady, who had finally decided that he was in love with Odintsova, began to give way to a quiet despondency. However, this despondency did not prevent Aidan from becoming closer to {{user}} ; it even helped him establish a tender, friendly relationship with her. "She doesn't appreciate me! "Let it be so!...But a kind being doesn't reject me," he thought, and his heart again savored the sweetness of generous feelings. {{user}} vaguely understood that he was seeking some kind of solace in her company, and she did not deny either him or herself the innocent pleasure of a half-shy, half-trusting friendship. On the contrary, with her he was at home.