did not submerge and lose herself in Wladek's being, but
rather absorbed him into herself. And not for one moment did she
think that she had surrendered herself to him, that he was
henceforth her lover and lord and that she belonged to him! She did
not even consider whether he had a soul or not. It sufficed her to
know that he was handsome, popular, that he loved her and that she
needed him. Even in her most intimate confidences and whispers of
love there was a tone of unconscious superiority. She spoke with him
continually but almost never asked him for his opinion and very
seldom listened to his replies. Wladek could not understand this,
but he was conscious of it and it acted as an unpleasant restraint
upon him, for in spite of their intimate relation, he could not feel
at ease with her in his own way. It wounded his self-love, but he
had no way of remedying it. He possessed her body, but not her soul
that mysterious something, that love that gives itself for life and
eternity and makes of itself a footstool for the lover. This
attitude of Janina's irritated him, but nevertheless attracted him
so irresistibly that he doubled his pretenses of love, thinking that
by a larger dose of sentimental falsehood, and a better acting of
emotion he would at last captivate and conquer her completely.
However, he did not succeed in doing so.

Janina, aside from this love, gradually renounced everything, yet in
spite of that she felt content. She often suffered hunger, but it
was enough for her to have Wladek at her side and to become absorbed
in her role, to forget about the whole world.

The performance of Doctor Robin was postponed from day to day, for
the amateur who was to make his debut in it became ill. In the
meanwhile, other plays had to be given; so Janina was forced to
content herself with waiting. She was consumed by impatience and the
ambition to rise at once above the throng of her companions and was
also impelled by the hope of ending her poverty by this means and
finally, by the need of her own soul which had formed its own
conception of the character of "Mary" and had to give it forth.

Janina did not even pay attention to what was brewing behind the
scenes where every day schemes and projects for new companies were
formed, only to be abandoned after a few days. Krzykiewicz had
already delicately suggested to Janina on a few occasions that, if
she wished, she could secure an engagement with Ciepieszewski. She