And Paschális stared at me provocatively and abruptly, waiting for my answer. I knew that sneering and desecrated love of his, however violent and fiery it had been, had also been pure and sincere. I knew his morality and sometimes I teased him for his excessive prudishness. But the unprecedented moral strictness revealed to me today, the fears surrounding him that I would not be able to understand his position towards Clara, however he presented it to me, made me ashamed of myself, I don’t know how, and I didn’t know how to answer. The thing had however happened so unexpectedly. When, having decided that he would open his heart to me, he began his preliminaries with such sorrow, such despair, I was prepared to hear at once something terrible, something amazing. For a moment I had forgotte
