He knew that neither Cossack men nor older women, nor anyone besides the girls, were to be there.

What was going to happen?
How was he to behave?
What would they talk about?
What connexion was there between him and those wild Cossack girls?
Beletski had told him of such curious, cynical, and yet rigid relations.

It seemed strange to think that he would be there in the same hut with Maryanka and perhaps might have to talk to her.

It seemed to him impossible when he remembered her majestic bearing.

But Beletski spoke of it as if it were all perfectly simple.