Page:Chernyshevsky.whatistobedone.djvu/97

Rh "Some of it in estates also?"

"Yes; there's landed property."

"Soon?"

"Soon."

"You mean you are going to be married soon?"

"Yes."

"That is right, Dmitri Sergéitch; get married before she comes into her property, and so get rid of the crowd of men that'll be after her money."

"Perfectly right."

"How it is that God sent you such good luck, while other men have no such luck at all?"

"It's so; but almost nobody knows that she is such an heiress."

"And you found out?"

"I did."

"How was it you did?"

"To tell the truth, I had long been on the lookout for such a chance, and at last I found it."

"And you haven't made any mistake?"

"Certainly not; I've seen the documents."

"Seen 'em yourself?"

"I, myself. That was the first step I took."

"Was that the way you set about it?"

"Of course; a man who is in his right mind does not take any risks without proofs."

"That's true, Dmitri Sergéitch; no one does. What good luck! It must have been in answer to your parents' prayers."

"It must be so."

Marya Alekséyevna had taken a fancy to the tutor from the time when she found that he did not drink up her tea. It was apparent from everything that he was a man of solid character, with a firm basis of sense; he had little to say,—so much the better, he was not empty-headed, and whatever he said was to the point,—especially in regard to money; but since the evening of the party, she saw that the tutor was a God-send, on account of his absolute disinclination to flirt with the girls in the families where he gave lessons. Such an absolute disinclination can rarely be found among young men. But now she was at the height of her satisfaction with him. "Indeed, what a splendid man he is! And he had never boasted that he was going to marry a rich bride; it was necessary to draw out every word with pincers! And