the house who makes me feel uncomfortable. . . . Above all, I am
interested in a certain young lady, but whether she is a relative
or simply a companion here the Lord only knows! I have scarcely
exchanged a couple of words with her, but I feel that we are
birds of a feather. . ."

Here followed a description of Mariana's personal appearance and
of all her habits; then he continued:

"That she is unhappy, proud, ambitious, reserved, but above all
unhappy, I have not the smallest doubt. But why she is unhappy, I
have as yet failed to discover. That she has an upright nature is
quite evident, but whether she is good-natured or not remains to
be seen. Are there really any good-natured women other than
stupid ones? Is goodness essential? However, I know little about
women. The lady of the house does not like her, and I believe it
is mutual on either side. . . . But which of them is in the right
is difficult to say. I think that the mistress is probably in the
wrong . . . because she is so awfully polite to her; the other's
brows twitch nervously when she is speaking to her patroness. She
is a most highly-strong individual, like myself, and is just as
easily upset as I am, although perhaps not in the same way.

"When all this can be disentangled, I will write to you again.

"She hardly ever speaks to me, as I have already told you, but in
the few words she has addressed to me (always rather sudden and
unexpected) there was a ring of rough sincerity which I liked. By
the way, how long is that relative of yours going to bore you to
death? When is he going to die?