ccessible to such a
"churl" as he often frankly called himself; but precisely because of
his lowly origin he loved her all the more intensely.

Finally, he decided to speak to her father about it.

Orlowski received him with open arms, and in his arbitrary way,
without consulting his daughter, at once gave him his word that all
would be well. Grzesikiewicz was therefore thinking that Janina
would not refuse him, that she must have already spoken of the
matter with her father.

"Why not!" he whispered to himself. He was young, wealthy, and well,
he loved her so dearly. "In a month our marriage will take place,"
he added hurriedly and that thought filled him with such joy that he
began to run swiftly through the woods, breaking branches off the
trees, kicking the rotted stumps that were in his way, knocking off
the heads of spring mushrooms, whistling and smiling. And he
thought, too, how glad his mother would be to hear the news.

She was an old peasant woman, who with the exception of her dress
had not changed in the least on account of her wealth. She thought
of Janina as of a princess. Her one dream was to have for a
daughter-in-law a real lady, an aristocrat whose beauty and high
birth would dazzle her, for her husband and his money and the
respect which the entire neighborhood showed him did not suffice
her. She was always conscious of being a peasant and received all
honors with a true peasant-like distrust.

"Andy!" she often said to her son. "Andy, I wish you would marry
Miss Orlowska. That's what I call a real lady! When she looks at
you, she makes you shudder with awe and wish to fall at her feet and
beg some boon of her. . . . She must be very good for whenever she
meets folks in the woods she greets them in God's name, chats with
them, and pets the children . . . another would be incapable of
that! Gentle birth will always out. I sent her a basket of mushrooms
and when she met me she kissed my hand for it. And she is not
lacking in wisdom. Ho! ho! she knows that I have a prize of a son.
Andy, marry her. Hurry, and make hay while the sun shines!"

Andrew would usually laugh at his mother's prattle, kiss her hand,
and promise her to settle at once everything according to her
wishes.

"We will have a princess in our house and seat her in state in the
parlor! Don't fear, Andy, I will not let her soil her hands with
anything. I will wait upon her, serve her, hand her everything she
needs; all she has to