This is an unusual entry in the Chekhov library, written in the first person and narrated by a woman.
It’s a good story, maybe even great. In any case, it’s very tight, just seven pages long, with a breathless, thrilling opening: Natalya and Pyotr are riding through the fields as a storm approaches. The rains begin to fall; the fields of oats ripple in the wind, and Natalya finds herself overtaken with a sort of ecstasy that anything might happen – she might even be struck by lightning.
In the stable, Pyotr declares his love for her, and later that evening, alone, Natalya considers the question: Does she, too, love him?
This is a line of thought that comes up regularly in Chekhov: Do I love him? Do I love her?
Then, as Natalya herself says, what happens next is… nothing. Years pass. Pyotr is assigned a job in the city and loses his spark. Natalya may or may not get married – it’s not addressed in the story.
But she aches for the joy she felt with Pyotr that day in the rain.
The moral, I suppose, could be this: Ask not whether you love someone; just love them and let come what may.
READ THIS? READ THAT!
“Ionitch” is another tale about a young woman who bats away a declaration of love. The handling of the narratives is totally different: In “Ionitch,” the man is the central focus, whereas in “A Lady’s Story” the woman is at the center of the tale. And the tone is different as well, with Ionitch himself sagging into a kind of self-satisfied bitterness, while Natalya is a melancholy soul.
A Chekhov Circus 