Ivan Turgenev

“ Marfa Timofyevna interrupted her, "he knows how to captivate her; he made her a present of a snuff-box. Fedya, ask her for a pinch of snuff; you will see what a splendid snuff-box it is; on the lid a hussar on horseback. You'd better not try to defend yourself, my dear."
Nastasya Karpovna could only fling up her hands.
"Well, but Lisa," inquired Lavretsky, "is she indifferent to him?"
"She seems to like him, but there, God knows! The heart of another, you know, is a dark forest, and a girl's more than any. Shurotchka's heart, for instance--I defy you to understand it! ”

“ I have grown too lazy, my dear," relied Marfa Timofyevna. "Already I am indulging myself with tea." She addressed Nastasya Karpovna in the singular, though she treated her as an equal. She was not a Pestov for nothing: three Pestovs had been on the death-list of Ivan the Terrible, Marfa Timofyevna was well aware of the fact.
"Tell me please," began Lavretsky again, "Marya Dmitrievna has just been talking to me about this--what's his name? Panshin. What sort of a man is he?" ”

“ My responsibility of course is immense; the happiness of children depends, no doubt, on parts; still I may say, up till now, for better or for worse I have done everything, I alone have been everywhere with them, that is to say, I have educated my children and taught them everything myself. ”