Hope Against Hope

«Hearing about this second search, Evgeni, who was the most reserved and tight-lipped person in the world, frowned and said: "If they come once more, they'll take both of you with them."
What was the explanation of this second search and the removal of further papers? Akhmatova and I exchanged glances - always enough for Soviet citizens to understand each other. Clearly, the official in charge of the case had examined the manuscripts confiscated the night before (none of the poems was very long, and not much time had been needed to read them), but had not found what he was looking for. They had therefore sent this agent to have another look, fearing that some essential document might have been missed in the haste of the search. We could see from this that they wanted some one particular thing and would not rest content with verses such as the "Wolf" poem. But the thing they were looking for wasn't in the trunk - neither M. nor I had ever written it down on paper. This time I didn't offer to help, and Akhmatova and I just sat drinking tea, with an occasional sidelong glance at our visitor.»

Nadezhda Mandelstam, Hope Against Hope