Help with a short story: the unopened letter

[Hugh Olmsted]

      Dear friends,
      On behalf of a colleague not in our field, I wonder whether our  
collective wisdom can identify a Russian short story just from a few  
clues in its subject.  What we know is this:  a family living far out  
in the provinces unexpectedly receives a letter from the Center,  
probably St. Petersburg.  It is a very official-looking, obviously  
important letter, and causes great consternation in the family:  What  
should they do?  Maybe it's bad news, maybe they shouldn't open it?   
Or maybe that would be just the wrong thing to do:  if they didn't  
open it, might that bring terrible consequences?  And so they hang,  
unable to decide, not opening it, not resolving their dilemma.
      And that's all we know.  How it turns out, who wrote it, what  
its title might be, all remain to be recovered.
      From this shred of evidence, can anybody provide the title and  
author?
      Thanks for your attention; we'll be very grateful for any leads,
      Hugh Olmsted

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