"Poor girl!" said Sofya softly.
"Ye-es," Nikolay drawled. Sofya put her hand on the mother's shoulder and gave her a gentle little shake as she sat in the chair.
"Would you love such a daughter?" and Sofya looked into the mother's face.
"Oh! If I could see them together, if only for one day!" exclaimed Nilovna, ready to weep.
"Yes, a bit of happiness is good for everybody."
"But there are no people who want only a bit of happiness," remarked Nikolay; "and when there's much of it, it becomes cheap."
Sofya sat herself at the piano, and began to play something low and doleful.
CHAPTER VIII
