"No, you can't. You are not ill; only you've had a letter that troubles you. I saw—I saw——"
"Yes, I've had a letter," said Ilya slowly.
Something rustled in the branches outside. Tatiana looked quickly out at the window, then again at Ilya.
"It was only the wind, or a bird," she said. "Now, young man, will you listen to my advice? I'm only a young woman, but I'm not a fool!"
"If you'll be so good—please," said Lunev, and looked at her with curiosity.
"Tear up the letter and throw it away," she said in a decided tone. "If she has written you your dismissal, she's acted well, and like a sensible girl. It's too soon for you to marry. You've no settled standing, and you ought not to marry without. You're a strong young man and you work, and you're good-looking. You're bound to get on. Only take care you don't fall in love. Earn a lot of money, and save, and try to get on to something bigger. Open a shop, and then, when you've got firm ground under your feet, you can marry. You're bound to get on. You don't drink, you're unassuming, you've no ties."
Ilya listened, with bowed head and smiled quietly. He longed to laugh out loud.
"There's nothing more silly than to hang your head down," continued Tatiana, in the tone of an experienced man of the world. "It will pass. Love is a disease that is easily cured. Before I was married I fell in love three times, fit to drown myself, but it passed. And when I saw that it was time for me to marry, I married without all that love."
"Ilya raised his head and looked at the woman as she said this:
"What's the matter?" she asked. "Afterwards I learnt to love my husband. It happens often that a woman falls in love with her husband."