allow us to give our blessing to your pure, lawful union. When,
when do you think of being married?"

"I haven't thought of it," said Nadyezhda Fyodorovna, freeing her
hands.

"That's impossible, my dear. You have thought of it, you have."

"Upon my word, I haven't," said Nadyezhda Fyodorovna, laughing.
"What should we be married for? I see no necessity for it. We'll
go on living as we have lived."

"What are you saying!" cried Marya Konstantinovna in horror. "For
God's sake, what are you saying!"

"Our getting married won't make things any better. On the contrary,
it will make them even worse. We shall lose our freedom."

"My dear, my dear, what are you saying!" exclaimed Marya Konstantinovna,
stepping back and flinging up her hands. "You are talking wildly!
Think what you are saying. You must settle down!"

"'Settle down.' How do you mean? I have not lived yet, and you
tell me to settle down."

Nadyezhda Fyodorovna reflected that she really had not lived. She
had finished her studies in a boarding-school and had been married
to a man she did not love; then she had thrown in her lot with
Laevsky, and had spent all her time with him on this empty, desolate
coast, always expecting something better. Was that life?

"I ought to be married though," she thought, but remembering Kirilin
and Atchmianov she flushed and said:

"No, it's impossible. Even if Ivan Andreitch begged me to on his
knees--even then I would refuse."

Marya Konstantinovna sat on the sofa for a minute in silence, grave
and mournful, gazing fixedly into space; then she got up and said
coldly:

"Good-bye, my dear! Forgive me for having troubled you. Though it's
not easy for me, it's my duty to tell you that from this day all
is over between us, and, in spite of my profound respect for Ivan
Andreitch, the door of my house is closed to you henceforth."

She uttered these words with great solemnity and was herself
overwhelmed by her solemn tone. Her face began quivering again; it
assumed a soft almond-oily expression. She held out both hands to
Nadyezhda Fyodorovna, who was overcome with alarm and confusion,
and said in an imploring voice:

"My dear, allow me if only for a moment to be a mother or an elder
sister to you! I will be as frank with you as a mother."

Nadyezhda Fyodorovna felt in her bosom warmth, gladness, and pity
for herself, as though her own mother had really risen up and were
standing before her. She impulsively embraced Ma