"Then what are you afraid of?"
"I do not fear, I wait."
"Wait! For what?"
"I am waiting till I count for something in the world; at present I am a mere cipher."
"One who is born a man can never be a mere cipher."
"Look now! This wooden booth is at present the whole of my property, this little pile of paper my whole claim upon the world; but in my soul there is a vigorous flame to which I can give no name. This flame would suffice to make a man a pretender to a throne, but it is not sufficient to make him propose to a girl."
"But you know that I am rich."
"And I am still richer, for I dine deliciously off a crust of bread, and I sleep sweetly on a bed of straw."
"Well, and that pleases me too. I like a crust of bread and a bed of straw. You do not know me. A man might make a she-devil of me, though he built a temple in my name straight off, enshrined me on the altar, and knelt down before me. But he whom I truly loved might make an angel of me. I could be happy anywhere: in a shepherd's hut, a strolling player's tent, at a soldier's bivouac, in a schoolmaster's clay cabin. I would dream of luxury on my bed of straw."
And with that, she threw herself at full length on my bare sofa, and clasped her hands above her head.