I had a sensation as if somebody tried to remove a splinter from my flesh with a fork.  As the blue waves of light had stirred up within me a tender feeling for Aniela,—­although it was no merit of hers,—­so now the wooing of such a man as Kromitzki threw cold water upon the nascent affections.  I know that ape Kromitzki, and do not like him.  He comes from Austrian Silesia, where it seems they had owned estates.  In Rome he used to say that his family had borne the title of count already in the fifteenth century, and at the hotels put himself down as “Graf von Kromitzki.”  But for his small, black eyes, not unlike coffee-berries, and his black hair, his head looks as if cut out from a cheese-rind,—­for such is his complexion.  He reminds me of a death’s-head, and I simply have a physical loathing for him.  Ugh! how the thought of him in connection with Aniela has spoiled her image.  I am quite aware that she is in no way responsible for Kromitzki’s intentions; but it has damaged her in my eyes.  I do not know why her mother should think it necessary to tell me these details; if it be a warning, it has missed its aim.  She must have some grand qualities, this Pani P., since she has managed to steer her life through so many difficulties, and at the same time educated her daughter so well; but she is clumsy and tedious with her headaches and her macaronism.

“I confess,” she said, “that the alliance suited me.  At times I almost break down under the weight of troubles.  I am a woman with little knowledge of business, and what I acquired I have paid for with my health; but I had to think of my child.  Kromitzki is very clever.  He has large concerns at Odessa, and is at present engaged in some large speculations in naphtha at Baku, or some such place, ‘que sais-je.’  It seems there is some difficulty about his not being a Russian subject.  If he married Aniela he might clear the estate; and as an extensive landowner he would have no difficulty in getting naturalized.”

“What does Aniela say to this?” I asked impatiently.

“She does not care for him, but is a good and obedient child.  I am anxious to see her married before I die.”

I did not care to prolong the conversation, which irritated me more than I can tell; and though I understand well enough, if that match has not been arranged, it was Aniela’s doing, yet I feel aggrieved that she should allow a man like that even to look at her.  For me this would be a mere question of nerves.  I forget, however, that others are not constituted like me, and that Kromitzki, in spite of his cadaverous face, passes among women as a good-looking man.