You will do well, brother, if you
send him to the capital, for instance, to Warsaw; or, if you wish to know
my real opinion, to St. Petersburg. I shall surely be going there this
winter on business; we will consider together what to do with Thaddeus. I
know many people there and have influence; that is the best means of
making a man. Through my aid he will gain access to the leading houses,
and when he is known to important people he will get an office and a
decoration; then let him abandon the service if he wishes and return home,
being by that time of some importance and well known in society. What do
you think about that, brother?"

"In his early years," said the Judge, "it is not bad for a young man to
gain social experience, to see the world, and acquire polish among men. I
myself, when young, covered no small ground; I have been in Piotrkow and
in Dubno, now following the court as a lawyer, now attending to my own
affairs; I have even visited Warsaw. Not a little did I profit by this. I
should like to send out my nephew also among men, simply as a traveller,
as an apprentice who is finishing his term, in order that he might acquire
some little knowledge of the world. Not for the sake of office-holding or
decorations! I beg your most humble pardon; a rank in the Muscovite
hierarchy, a decoration, what sort of distinction are they? What man among
our ancient notables--nay, even among those of this present day--what man of
any prominence among the district gentry cares for such trifles? And yet
these men are esteemed among us, for we respect in them their family,
their good name, or their office--but a local office, conferred by the
votes of their fellow-citizens, and not by the influence of any one set in
authority."

"If that is your opinion, brother," interrupted Telimena, "so much the
better; send him out as a traveller."

"You see, sister," said the Judge, mournfully scratching his head, "I
should like to do so very much, but what if I have new perplexities!
Brother Jacek has not abandoned the oversight of his son, and has just
sent down upon me that Bernardine Robak, who has arrived from across the
Vistula, a friend of my brother, who knows all his plans. And so the fates
have already uttered their decree as to Thaddeus, and will have him marry,
but marry Zosia,53 your ward; the young couple will receive, besides my
own fortune, a dowry in ready money by the generosity of Jacek. You know
that he is rich, and