āI knew you would. I expected as much of you. He will love you because he ought, he ought; he ought to adore you.ā Varvara Petrovna almost shrieked with peculiar exasperation. āBesides, he will be in love with you without any ought about it. I know him. And another thing, I shall always be here. You may be sure I shall always be here. He will complain of you, heāll begin to say things against you behind your back, heāll whisper things against you to any stray person he meets, heāll be forever whining and whining; heāll write you letters from one room to another, two a day, but he wonāt be able to get on without you all the same, and thatās the chief thing. Make him obey you. If you canāt make him youāll be a fool. Heāll want to hang himself and threaten, toā ādonāt you believe it. Itās nothing but nonsense. Donāt believe it; but still keep a sharp lookout, you never can tell, and one day he may hang himself. It does happen with people like that. Itās not through strength of will but through weakness that people hang themselves, and so never drive him to an extreme, thatās the first rule in married life. Remember, too, that heās a poet. Listen, Dasha, thereās no greater happiness than self-sacrifice. And besides, youāll be giving me great satisfaction and thatās the chief thing.
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