Page:The Novels of Ivan Turgenev (volume VI).djvu/123

Rh well managed, though the factory, perhaps, is in rather a bad way. As for the peasants, some seem rather unapproachable; and the hired servants have all such decorous faces. But we will go into all that later on. The people of the house are cultivated, liberal; Sipyagin is always so condescending─oh! so condescending; and then all of a sudden he flies off into eloquence─a most highly cultivated person! The lady of the house is a perfect beauty─a sly puss, I should fancy; she fairly watches over one; and oh, isn't she soft!─not a bone in her body! I am afraid of her; you know what my manners are like with ladies! There are neighbours─wretched creatures─and one old lady, who worries me. But I am most interested in a girl─whether she is a relation or a companion, goodness knows; I have hardly spoken two words to her, but I feel she's made of the same clay as myself'

Here followed a description of Marianna's appearance and all her ways; then he went on:

'That she's unhappy, proud, self-conscious, reserved, and, most of all, unhappy, I feel no doubt about. Why she's unhappy, so far I don't know. That she's honest is clear to me: whether she is good-natured is still a question. Are there any entirely good-natured women