Here is the whole truth for thee; now despise me if thou wish." "As God lives, I have never respected thee more," answered Pan Stanislav; "for now I admire not thy sincerity merely, but also thy courage." "I accept the compliment because thou art candid; but in what dost thou see courage?" "In this,--that having so few illusions as to Panna Kraslavski, thou art going to marry her." "I marry her because I am more wise than foolish. I looked for money, it is true; but thinkest thou that for money I would marry the first woman I met who possessed it? By no means, my dear friend. I take Panna Kraslavski, and I know what I am doing. She has her great qualities, indispensable under the circumstances in which I take her, and in which she marries me. She will be a cold, unagreeable wife, sour, and even contemptuous, in so far as she does not fear me; but, on the other hand, Panna Kraslavski, as well as her mother, has a religious respect for appearances,--for what is fitting, or, speaking generally, for what is polite. This is one point. Further, there is not even one germ in her from which love intrigues could grow; and life with her, be it disagreeable as it may, will never end in scandal. This is the second. Third, she is pedantic in everything, as well in religion as in fulfilment of all the duties which she may take on herself. This is, indeed, a great quality. I shall not be happy with her, but I can be at peace; and who knows if this is not the maximum possible to ask of life, and I tell thee, my dear friend, that when a man takes a wife he should think before all of future peace. In a mistress seek what pleases thee,--wit, temperament, a poetical form of sensitiveness. But with a wife one must live years; seek in her that on which one can rely,--seek principles." "I have never thought thee a fool," said Pan Stanislav; "but I see that thou hast more wit than I suspected." "Our women--take those, for example, of the money world--are formed really on the French novel; and what comes of that is known to thee." "More or less; but to-day thou art so eloquent that I listen to thy description with pleasure." "Well, a woman becomes her own God and her own measure of right." "And for her husband?" "A chameleon and a tragedy." "This happens a little in the world of much money and no traditions; there everything is appearance and toilet, beneath which sits not a soul, but a more or less exquisite wild beast. And this wealthy and elegant world, amusing itself, and permeated with artistic, literary, and even religious dilettantism, wields the baton and directs the orchestra." "Not yet with us." "Not yet altogether. For that matter, there are exceptions, even in the society mentioned; all the more must there be outside it. Yes, there are women of another kind among us,--for instance, Panna Plavitski. Oh, what security, and withal what a charm of life, with a woman like her! Unhappily, she is not for me."