iked about him was that he worked, and supported his family by his
toil.

She had heard that he was proud and ambitious; she had heard much that
was interesting of his mother and sister, she had heard of them from Mr.
Ptitsin, and would much like to make their acquaintance, but--another
question!--would they like to receive her into their house? At all
events, though she did not reject the idea of this marriage, she desired
not to be hurried. As for the seventy-five thousand roubles, Mr. Totski
need not have found any difficulty or awkwardness about the matter; she
quite understood the value of money, and would, of course, accept the
gift. She thanked him for his delicacy, however, but saw no reason why
Gavrila Ardalionovitch should not know about it.

She would not marry the latter, she said, until she felt persuaded that
neither on his part nor on the part of his family did there exist any
sort of concealed suspicions as to herself. She did not intend to ask
forgiveness for anything in the past, which fact she desired to be
known. She did not consider herself to blame for anything that had
happened in former years, and she thought that Gavrila Ardalionovitch
should be informed as to the relations which had existed between herself
and Totski during the last five years. If she accepted this money it was
not to be considered as indemnification for her misfortune as a young
girl, which had not been in any degree her own fault, but merely as
compensation for her ruined life.

She became so excited and agitated during all these explanations and
confessions that General Epanchin was highly gratified, and considered
the matter satisfactorily arranged once for all. But the once bitten
Totski was twice shy, and looked for hidden snakes among the flowers.
However, the special point to which the two friends particularly trusted
to bring about their object (namely, Gania's attractiveness for Nastasia
Philipovna), stood out more and more prominently; the pourparlers had
commenced, and gradually even Totski began to believe in the possibility
of success.

Before long Nastasia and Gania had talked the matter over. Very
little was said--her modesty seemed to suffer under the infliction
of discussing such a question. But she recognized his love, on the
understanding that she bound herself to nothing whatever, and that
she reserved the right to say "no" up to the very hour of the marriage
ceremony. Gania was to have the same right o