"Quite so, quite so! They say she has made friends with artists and pianists; or, as they call them there, with lions and other wild beasts. She has completely lost all sense of shame—"
"It's very, very sad," said Maria Dmitrievna; "especially for a relation. You know, don't you, Sergius Petrovich, that he is a far-away cousin of mine?"
"To be sure, to be sure! You surely don't suppose I could be ignorant of any thing that concerns your family."
"Will he come to see us? What do you think?"
"One would suppose so; but afterwards, I am told, he will go and live on his estate in the country."
Maria Dmitrievna lifted her eyes towards heaven.
"Oh, Sergius Petrovich, Sergius Petrovich! how often I think how necessary it is for us women to behave circumspectly!"
"There are women and women, Maria Dmitrievna. There are, unfortunately, some who are—of an unstable character; and then there is a certain time of life—and, besides, good principles have not been instilled into them when they were young."
Here Sergius Petrovich drew from his pocket a blue handkerchief, of a check pattern, and began to unfold it.
"Such women, in fact, do exist."