"Father," said Nina, appealing to the old man, "how could I have kept it? You knew why it was given." "Who is to help us if we may not take it from them?" "To-morrow," said Nina, "I can get as much as he brought. And I will, and you shall see it." "Who will give it you, Nina?" "Never mind, father, I will have it." "She will beg it from her Jew lover," said Souchey. "Souchey," said she, with her eyes flashing fire at him, "if you cannot treat your master's daughter better than that, you may as well go." "Is it not true?" demanded Souchey. "No, it is not true; it is false. I have never taken money from Anton; nor shall I do so till we are married." "And that will be never," said Souchey. "It is as well to speak out at once. The priest will not let it be done." "All the priests in Prague cannot hinder it," said Nina. "That is true," said Balatka. "We shall see," said Souchey. "And in the mean time what is the good of fighting with the Zamenoys? They are your only friends, Nina, and therefore you take delight in quarrelling with them. When people have money, they should be allowed to have a little pride." Nina said nothing further on the occasion, though Souchey and her father went on grumbling for an hour. She discovered, however, from various words that her father allowed to fall from him, that his opposition to her marriage had nearly faded away. It seemed to be his opinion that if she were to marry the Jew, the sooner she did it the better. Now, Nina was determined that she would marry the Jew, though heaven and earth should meet in consequence. She would marry him if he would marry her. They had told her that the Jew would jilt her. She did not put much faith in the threat; but even that was more probable than that she should jilt him. On the following morning Souchey, in return, as it were, for his cruelty to his young mistress on the preceding day, produced some small store of coin which he declared to be the result of a further sale of the last relics of his master's property; and
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