explaining to her that one always could and should be acquainted with people above one, because only then does one get satisfaction from acquaintances.
“You can get to know something, you can ask for something. See how I managed from my first promotion.”
(Berg measured his life not by years but by promotions.)
“My comrades are still nobodies, while I am only waiting for a vacancy to command a regiment, and have the happiness to be your husband.”
(He rose and kissed Véra’s hand, and on the way to her straightened out a turned-up corner of the carpet.)
“And how have I obtained all this? Chiefly by knowing how to choose my aquaintances. It goes without saying that one must be conscientious and methodical.”
Berg smiled with a sense of his superiority over a weak woman, and paused, reflecting that this dear wife of his