Although Levin believed himself to have the most exact conceptions of domestic life, unconsciously, like all men, he pictured domestic life as the happiest enjoyment of love, with nothing to hinder and no petty cares to distract.

He ought, as he conceived the position, to do his work, and to find repose from it in the happiness of love.

She ought to be beloved, and nothing more.

But, like all men, he forgot that she too would want work.