"Desire nothing for thyself, seek nothing, be not anxious or envious.
Man's future and thy own fate must remain hidden from thee, but live so that thou mayest be ready for anything.
If it be God's will to prove thee in the duties of marriage, be ready to fulfill His will.
" With this consoling thought (but yet with a hope for the fulfillment of her forbidden earthly longing) Princess Mary sighed, and having crossed herself went down, thinking neither of her gown and coiffure nor of how she would go in nor of what she would say.
What could all that matter in comparison with the will of God, without Whose care not a hair of man's head can fall? When Princess Mary came down, Prince Vasili and his son were already in the drawing room, talking to the little princess and Mademoiselle Bourienne.