He knew in the depths of his soul that he ought to go away, thatthere was no real reason for staying on with his aunts, knew thatno good could come of it; and yet it was so pleasant, sodelightful, that he did not honestly acknowledge the facts tohimself and stayed on. On Easter eve, the priest and the deaconwho came to the house to say mass had had (so they said) thegreatest difficulty in getting over the three miles that laybetween the church and the old ladies' house, coming across thepuddles and the bare earth in a sledge.
Nekhludoff attended the mass with his aunts and the servants, andkept looking at Katusha, who was near the door and brought in thecensers for the priests. Then having given the priests and hisaunts the Easter kiss, though it was not midnight and thereforenot Easter yet, he was already going to bed when he heard the oldservant Matrona Pavlovna preparing to go to the church to get thekoulitch and paski [Easter cakes] blest after the midnightservice. "I shall go too," he thought.
The road to the church was impassable either in a sledge or onwheels, so Nekhludoff, who behaved in his aunts' house just as hedid at home, ordered the old horse, "the brother's horse," to besaddled, and instead of going to bed he put on his gay uniform, apair of tight-fitting riding breeches and his overcoat, and goton the old over-fed and heavy horse, which neighed continuallyall the way as he rode in the dark through the puddles and snowto the church.