The Duel and Other Stories by Anton Chekhov, Fiction, Anthologies, Short Stories, Classics, Literary

While his restless wife watches, the chemist snores contentedly, smiling at his dream -- that the whole village has a cough and are buying his curative syrup!

Then she hears outside two shadowed figures, a doctor and an officer, talking between themselves . . . about the chemist with the oversized jaw of an ass and his ever-so-contrasting, so-fetching wife! Then the doorbell rings.

Soon the chemist's wife finds herself hosting a small midnight party, gazing upon their ruddy faces and listening to their chatter -- and soon she, too, grows quite lively. Oh, she feels so gay! The dead weight pressing her down on this heavy summer night lifts completely . . .