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 Záluz̓í without her knowledge and consent, and then only at entirely leisure times.

When the baroness asked her what drew her so much to Záluz̓í, the young lady replied that she found in Father Cvok a man of great piety and excellence, who had, it was true, a rough exterior, but a truly Christian heart and mind; and that she derived much spiritual comfort from his conversation.

The baroness, who always pretended to be a very pious woman, could not openly object to this; and though she was never inclined to think well of anybody, still she could not admit the idea that a man of fifty, without any obvious attractions, and with a very neglected exterior, could in any other way interest the mind of a young girl except in his clerical capacity. And in this respect Father Cvok stood in very good repute with her ladyship, because, during all the many years he had been a priest on her estate, she had never—even in his younger days—heard the slightest word whispered against him. The suspicion also arose in her mind that Jenny might only be making use of simple Father Cvok as a blind, while she was perhaps all the time carrying on a flirtation with somebody else; but, even in this matter, the reports of her secret police satisfied and convinced her completely that it was not the case.

So the baroness came at last to the conclusion that the companion only made a pretence of piety and need of spiritual comfort for show, but in reality went to Záluz̓í to philosophize with the eccentric and overwise Cvok. Such an amusement she, of course, considered altogether useless and incomprehensible, but as it seemed at the same time to be harmless, she did not forbid Jenny’s going occasionally to see her clerical friend.