"It seems that I shall be driven to cut his head off before lunch," said Pan Stanislav. The execution, however, did not come, for the reason that it was just time for lunch. They sat down at a separate table, but in the same hall was a general one, which for Marynia, whom everything interested, was a source of pleasure, too, for she saw _real_ English people. This made on her such an impression as if she had gone to some land of exotics; for since Kremen is Kremen, not one of its inhabitants had undertaken a similar journey. For Bukatski, and even Pan Stanislav, her delight was a source of endless jokes, but also of genuine pleasure. The first said that she reminded him of his youth; the second called his wife a "field daisy," and said that one was not sorry to show the world to a woman like her. Bukatski noticed, however, that the "field daisy" had much feeling for art and much honesty. Many things were known to her from books or pictures; not knowing others, she acknowledged this openly, but in her expressions there was nothing artificial or affected. When a thing touched her heart, her delight had no bounds, so that her eyes became moist. At one time Bukatski jested with her unmercifully; at another he persuaded her that all the connoisseurs, so called, have a nail in the head, and that she, as a sensitive and refined nature, and so far unspoiled, was for him of the greatest importance in questions of art; she would be still more important if she were ten years of age. At lunch they did not talk of art, because Pan Stanislav remembered his news from Warsaw, and said,-- "I had a letter from Mashko." "And I, too," answered Bukatski. "And thou? They must be hurried there; Mashko must be pressed in real earnest. Is the question known to thee?" "He persuades me, or rather, he implores me, to buy--dost thou know what?" Bukatski avoided Kremen, knowing well what trouble it had caused, and was silent through delicacy toward Marynia. But Pan Stanislav, understanding his intention, said,-- "Oh, my God! Once we avoided that name as a sore spot, but now, before my wife, it is something different. It is hard to be tied up a whole lifetime." Bukatski looked at him quickly; Marynia blushed a little, and said,-- "Stas is perfectly right. Besides, I know that it is a question of Kremen." "Yes, it is of Kremen." "Well, and what?" asked Pan Stanislav. "I should not buy it even because of this,--that the lady might have the impression that people are tossing it about like a ball." "If I do not think at all of Kremen?" said Marynia, blushing still more. She looked at her husband; and he nodded in sign of praise and satisfaction. "That is a proof," answered he, "that thou art a child of good judgment." "At the same time," continued Marynia, "if Pan Mashko does not hold out, Kremen will either be divided, or go into usurers' hands, and that to me would be disagreeable." "Ah, ha!" said Bukatski, "but if you do not think at all of Kremen?"