‘Look, I may be part of the reformed system, and I’ve got as far as Grade 5, but if you want to see me on the floor I can show you that even in dancing I can be the best.’ So, just occasionally, he would take to the floor with Praskovya at the end of an evening, and it was actually while dancing like this that he won her heart. She fell in love with him. Ivan Ilyich had no clear and definite plans for marriage, but once the girl fell in love with him he began to wonder. ‘When all’s said and done, why shouldn’t I get married?’
