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The princess saw that in the evenings Kitty read a French

testament that Madame Stahl had given her-a thing she had never

done before; that she avoided society acquaintances and

associated with the sick people who were under Varenka's

protection, and especially one poor family, that of a sick

painter, Petrov. Kitty was unmistakably proud of playing the part

of a sister of mercy in that family. All this was well enough,

and the princess had nothing to say against it, especially as

Petrov's wife was a perfectly nice sort of woman, and that the

German princess, noticing Kitty's devotion, praised her, calling

her an angel of consolation. All this would have been very well,

if there had been no exaggeration. But the princess saw that her

daughter was rushing into extremes, and so indeed she told her.

"Il ne faut jamais rien outrer," she said to her.