Lavretsky was not a young man; he could not long delude himself as to the nature of the feeling inspired in him by Lisa; he was brought on that day to the final conviction that he loved her.

This conviction did not give him ay great pleasure.

"Have I really nothing better to do," he thought, "at thirty-five than to put my soul into a woman's keeping again?
But Lisa is not like her; she would not demand degrading sacrifices from me: she would not tempt me away from my duties; she would herself incite me to hard honest work, and we would walk hand in hand towards a noble aim.

Yes," he concluded his reflections, "that's all very fine, but the worst of it is that she does not in the least wish to walk hand in hand with me.

She meant it when she said that I frightened her.