From Shishkin's Story re Fritz & Lydia (in "Calligraphy Lessons")



Their correspondence broke off during the First World War. Nothing is known of Lydia Petrovna Kochetkova’s death. This is from the last available letter. “My darling! Do you know what I regret most of all? I could have given you all the fullness of my love, but I gave you nothing but pain. Forgive me, if you can. And my heart cries out at the thought that my highest calling was just that—to give you my affection and tenderness, but instead I squandered my worthless life on phantoms.”

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