When he reached home he went to his study as usual, seated himself in his easy-chair, and opened a book on the Papacy at the place where his paper-knife was inserted. He read till one o'clock as was his wont, only now and then rubbing his high forehead and jerking his head as if driving something away.
Tornato a casa, Aleksej Aleksandrovic, come al solito, andò nel suo studio e sedette in una poltrona, aprendo, nel punto segnato dal tagliacarte, un libro sul cattolicesimo e, come al solito, rimase a leggere fino all’una; soltanto, di quando in quando, si passava una mano sulla fronte alta e scoteva il capo come ad allontanare qualcosa.