12th February—premature birth of the Tolstoys’ second daughter, Maria (Masha). Sofia nearly dies of puerperal fever. Shortly after the birth, Tolstoy leaves for a health cure in Samara, 500 miles east of Moscow, and buys a 67,000-acre estate near Buzuluk.
18th August. I saw my sister Tanya and her children off to the Caucasus yesterday evening. My soul is empty and sad at the prospect of losing my dearest friend. We have never been parted before. I feel as if part of my soul had been torn out, and nothing can comfort me. There is no one else in the whole world who could make me smile, comfort me when I am sad, and lift my spirits when I feel low. I look at nature and at my life stretching ahead of me, dismal and desolate, for everything seems dead without her. I cannot find words to express what I feel. Something has died in me. It’s not a grief one can forget through tears, it will make my heart ache for years to come.* I worry constantly about Lyovochka’s health. For two months he has been on a koumiss* diet, which has done him no good at all.*