Thank you very much for yet another excellent response to one of my threads!

Apologies for the few typos, it took almost two hours to work through and copy the Russian text from my exercise book using an online Russian keyboard. By the time I had finished my eyes had gone square!

31. Казалось, всё будет теперь хорошо.
31.1 It seemed (like) everything was going to go well (at the time).
31.2 All seemed to be going well, now. - No, in this case we would say: "Казалось, всё теперь хорошо" (without "будет") - if I understand your English sentence right. Do you mean "now" is the moment of the story passage (i.e. in the past)? Or do you mean it is actually "now" (2012)?

I meant ‘now’ in the past. Your explanation of ‘future in the past’ made perfect sense, thank you. No need to elaborate further, here.

32. Но он вскоре умер.
32.1 But he soon died.
32.2 But he died shortly after (those events).Yes, it is shortly after those events. As I explained it in 31), in Russian you have a "reference frame" when talking about events in the past. From the point of view of that reference frame, it was "вскоре".
BTW, in my turn, I do not understand, if there is any difference between English sentence 32.1 and 32.2?

32. You are correct. There is no difference in meaning between these two sentences in the given context. I must have been sleepy!

33. С тех пор она никуда не хочет уезжать из Петербурга.
33.1 Since then, she has not wanted to leave St. Petersburg.
33.2 Since then, she has not wanted to go anywhere (никуда), or to leave St. Petersburg .
As to me, the both translations mean the same
Since then, she has not wanted to go anywhere from St. Petersburg.
or
Since then, she has not wanted to leave St. Petersburg for anywhere.
Are they different for you?

Nope. I can’t have had my coffee yet!>>>

Special thanks for pointing out целую vs целую! This might have caused an awkward situation!

One final question on the above text:

12. Just to clarify: is it assumed that this is the first time Marina and her Grandmother met? Or, are we to presume that they were somewhat familiar with one another prior to Marina’s trip to St. Petersburg, and that their existing relationship was enhanced by the time they spent together?

12. Если бы я не поехала, я не узнала бы близко свою бабушку.

Thanks again for your great help!