Part One: Chapter 33

by Leo Tolstoy

　　Alexey Alexandrovitch came back from the meeting of the ministersat four o'clock, but as often happened, he had not time no comein to her. He went into his study to see the people waiting forhim with petitions, and to sign some papers brought him by hischief secretary. At dinner time (there were always a few peopledining with the Karenins) there arrived an old lady, a cousin ofAlexey Alexandrovitch, the chief secretary of the department andhis wife, and a young man who had been recommended to AlexeyAlexandrovitch for the service. Anna went into the drawing roomto receive these guests. Precisely at five o'clock, before thebronze Peter the First clock had struck the fifth stroke, AlexeyAlexandrovitch came in, wearing a white tie and evening coat withtwo stars, as he had to go out directly after dinner. Everyminute of Alexey Alexandrovitch's life was portioned out andoccupied. And to make time to get through all that lay beforehim every day, he adhered to the strictest punctuality."Unhasting and unresting," was his motto. He came into thedining hall, greeted everyone, and hurriedly sat down, smiling tohis wife.

　　"Yes, my solitude is over. You wouldn't believe howuncomfortable" (he laid stress on the word uncomfortable) "it isto dine alone."

　　At dinner he talked a little to his wife about Moscow matters,and, with a sarcastic smile, asked her after Stepan Arkadyevitch;but the conversation was for the most part general, dealing withPetersburg official and public news. After dinner he spent halfan hour with his guests, and again, with a smile, pressed hiswife's hand, withdrew, and drove off to the council. Anna didnot go out that evening either to the Princess Betsy Tverskaya,who, hearing of her return, had invited her, nor to the theater,where she had a box for that evening. She did not go outprincipally because the dress she had reckoned upon was notready. Altogether, Anna, on turning, after the departure of herguests, to the consideration of her attire, was very muchannoyed. She was generally a mistress of the art of dressingwell without great expense, and before leaving Moscow she hadgiven her dressmaker three dresses to transform. The dresses hadto be altered so that they could not be recognized, and theyought to have been ready three days before. It appeared that twodresses had not been done at all, while the other one had notbeen altered as Anna had intended. The dressmaker came toexplain, declaring that it would be better as she had done it,and Anna was so furious that she felt ashamed when she thought ofit afterwards. To regain her serenity completely she went intothe nursery, and spent the whole evening with her son, put him tobed herself, signed him with the cross, and tucked him up. Shewas glad she had not gone out anywhere, and had spent the eveningso well. She felt so light-hearted and serene, she saw soclearly that all that had seemed to her so important on herrailway journey was only one of the common trivial incidents offashionable life, and that she had no reason to feel ashamedbefore anyone else or before herself. Anna sat down at thehearth with an English novel and waited for her husband. Exactlyat half-past nine she heard his ring, and he came into the room.

　　"Here you are at last!" she observed, holding out her hand tohim.

　　He kissed her hand and sat down beside her.

　　"Altogether then, I see your visit was a success," he said toher.

　　"Oh, yes," she said, and she began telling him about everythingfrom the beginning: her journey with Countess Vronskaya, herarrival, the accident at the station. Then she described thepity she had felt, first for her brother, and afterwards forDolly.

　　"I imagine one cannot exonerate such a man from blame, though heis your brother," said Alexey Alexandrovitch severely.

　　Anna smiled. She knew that he said that simply to show thatfamily considerations could not prevent him from expressing hisgenuine opinion. She knew that characteristic in her husband,and liked it.

　　"I am glad it has all ended so satisfactorily, And that you areback again," he went on. "Come, what do they say about the newact I have got passed in the council?"

　　Anna had heard nothing of this act, And she feltconscience-stricken at having been able so readily to forget whatwas to him of such importance.

　　"Here, on the other hand, it has made a great sensation," hesaid, with a complacent smile.

　　She saw that Alexey Alexandrovitch wanted to tell her somethingpleasant to him about it, and she brought him by questions totelling it. With the same complacent smile he told her of theovations he had received in consequence of the act the hadpassed.

　　"I was very, very glad. It shows that at last a reasonable andsteady view of the matter is becoming prevalent among us."

　　Having drunk his second cup of tea with cream, and bread, AlexeyAlexandrovitch got up, and was going towards his study.

　　"And you've not been anywhere this evening? You've been dull, Iexpect?" he said.

　　"Oh, no!" she answered, getting up after him and accompanying himacross the room to his study. "What are you reading now?" sheasked.

　　"Just now I'm reading Duc de Likke, Poesie des Enfers," heanswered. "A very remarkable book."

　　Anna smiled, as people smile at the weaknesses of those theylove, and, putting her hand under his, she escorted him to thedoor of the study. She knew his habit, that had grown into anecessity, of reading in the evening. She knew, too, that inspite of his official duties, which swallowed up almost the wholeof his time, he considered it his duty to keep up with everythingof note that appeared in the intellectual world. She knew, too,that he was really interested in books dealing with politics,philosophy, and theology, that art was utterly foreign to hisnature; but, in spite of this, or rather, in consequence of it,Alexey Alexandrovitch never passed over anything in the world ofart, but made it his duty to read everything. She knew that inpolitics, in philosophy, in theology, Alexey Alexandrovitch oftenhad doubts, and made investigations; but on questions of art andpoetry, and, above all, of music, of which he was totally devoidof understanding, he had the most distinct and decided opinions.He was fond of talking about Shakespeare, Raphael, Beethoven, ofthe significance of new schools of poetry and music, all of whichwere classified by him with very conspicuous consistency.

　　"Well, God be with you," she said at the door of the study, wherea shaded candle and a decanter of water were already put by hisarmchair. "And I'll write to Moscow."

　　He pressed her hand, and again kissed it.

　　"All the same he's a good man; truthful, good-hearted, andremarkable in his own line," Anna said to herself going back toher room, as though she were defending him to someone who hadattacked him and said that one could not love him. "But why isit his ears stick out so strangely? Or has he had his hair cut?"

　　Precisely at twelve o'clock, when Anna was still sitting at herwriting table, finishing a letter to Dolly, she heard the soundof measured steps in slippers, and Alexey Alexandrovitch, freshlywashed and combed, with a book under his arm, came in to her.

　　"It's time, it's time," said he, with a meaning smile, And hewent into their bedroom.

　　"And what right had he to look at him like that?" thought Anna,recalling Vronsky's glance at Alexey Alexandrovitch.

　　Undressing, she went into the bedroom; but her face had none ofthe eagerness which, during her stay in Moscow, had fairlyflashed from her eyes and her smile; on the contrary, now thefire seemed quenched in her, hidden somewhere far away.