20th November. Masha is very poorly; her temperature was 40.8 this evening. My heart is like lead; I feel so sorry and afraid for her. The house is sad and silent.
21st. Masha is very ill. Day and night her temperature is 41.3. Doctor Afanasyev came.
23rd. Masha has a fever of 40.7, and has difficulty speaking. I am terrified. I don’t sleep at night, my soul is oppressed.
Lina and Misha came for dinner, and it became a little more cheerful; there are still plenty of people to love, so long as I have my grandchildren.
24th. Masha is still very ill. Doctor Shchurovsky and Doctor Afanasyev came. There is inflammation of the left lung and pleurisy.
Lina and Misha have left. Ilya came—wanting money as usual. 1° of frost, snowing. We can think of nothing but Masha’s illness.
25th. Masha is in a terrible state—groaning, tossing and delirious. I was sitting with her and it was unbearable to see her. I walked along the avenue and thought: why do people so value their own lives and those of their loved ones? We are all tense with anticipation.
27th. Masha died quietly at twenty to one this morning. Lev Nikolaevich was sitting beside her, holding her hand. She sat propped up on the pillows, and we were all with her in the room under the arches. I kissed her forehead and stood beside L.N. Kolya kept weeping and kissing her hands even after she had fallen quiet. A terrible wind was howling and tearing at the house. I cannot believe Masha has gone; it is very painful.
28th. Masha has been laid in her coffin, and Marfa Kub[asova], Olga Ershova, Matryosha and her mother are all sitting with her. Lev Nikolaevich, Kolya and Tanya went in to see her and a funeral service will be held. I have been with Kolya and Andryusha, who are making all the arrangements.
29th. We buried Masha.
30th. I do nothing all day, life has stopped. I went to the side wing to see my granddaughter Tanyushka, who is adorable.