Lestov catches Masha working and, smiling, asks how she’s managing without him: has she managed to put things back in order, and is she already planning to open her own fashionable shop? He insists that such a beautiful, quick-witted girl has long been ready to move from apprentice to a true craftswoman.
Masha, embarrassed, replies that she lacks “breeding” and nobility. Lestov asks, in disbelief, whether that’s really so important for keeping a shop. Masha objects: in their trade, people are judged by name and origin too, and without a resounding foreign surname—like “Madame la Broche” or “Madame Bochar”—it’s hard to count on success.