to serve her brother’s interests, varvara ardalionovna was constantly at the epanchins’ house, helped by the fact that in childhood she and gania had played with general ivan fedorovitch’s daughters. it would have been inconsistent with her character if in these visits she had been pursuing a chimera; her project was not chimerical at all; she was building on a firm basis on her knowledge of the character of the epanchin family, especially aglaya, whom she studied closely. all varvara’s efforts were directed towards bringing aglaya and gania together. perhaps she achieved some result; perhaps, also, she made the mistake of depending too much upon her brother, and expecting more from him than he would ever be capable of giving. however this may be, her manoeuvres were skilful enough. for weeks at a time she would never mention gania. her attitude was modest but dignified, and she was always extremely truthful and sincere. examining the depths of her conscience, she found nothing to reproach herself with, and this still further strengthened her in her designs. but varvara ardalionovna sometimes remarked that she felt spiteful; that there was a good deal of vanity in her, perhaps even of wounded vanity. she noticed this at certain times more than at others, and especially after her visits to the epanchins.