She had made a move in the right direction, as she thought, so she now passed on to something else.
"How happy you are in this house! I see that every one loves you.
They're a little strict, perhaps, but what good honest people! A thousand times fortunate you are to have found your way hither, where you have everything you can desire.

Here you can live in perfect contentment so long as old Boltay lives.

God preserve him for many years to come! And yet I fear that he may one day die suddenly, for his blood is very thick, and his father and his two brothers all died of apoplexy much about the same time of life.

I know very well that he would not leave you in want--he would provide for you, of course, if he had not got a nephew who is an advocate, to whom, perhaps, he will leave everything.

That is family pride, and very natural, after all.