Nothing wonderful, but so many loved her! There was never, I think, a woman so greatly beloved.

And you may judge by me.

I had led a life in which after my work women had always played the chief part, and as the months passed and I had grown proud I had vowed that women must be exceptional to please me.

I had felt the eye of the world upon me.

'You'll see no ordinary women in Victor Leontievitch's company' I heard them say, and I was proud that they should say it.
From the first instant of seeing Alexandra Pavlovna I loved her and I loved her in a new, an utterly new way.