"No! I will not marry! . . . My father can retract his word; he cannot compel me—"
"Yes . . . but there will be an awful rumpus, an awful rumpus!"
"I have stood so many, I can stand some more."
"I am afraid that this one will not end so smoothly. Your father has such a dreadful temper. . . . I can't understand how you are able to bear as much as you do. . . . If I were in your place, Miss Janina, I know what I should do . . . and do it now, immediately!"
"I am anxious to know . . . give me your advice."
"First of all, I would leave home to avoid all this trouble before it begins. I would go to Warsaw."
"Well, and what would you do next?" asked Janina with trembling voice.
"I would join some theater and let happen what will!"
"Yes, that's a good idea, but . . . but—"
And she broke off, for the old helplessness and fears reasserted themselves. She sat silent without answering Krenska.