Part Seven: Chapter 10

by Leo Tolstoy

　　She had risen to meet him, not concealing her pleasure at seeinghim; and in the quiet ease with which she held out her littlevigorous hand, introduced him to Vorkuev and indicated ared-haired, pretty little girl who was sitting at work, callingher her pupil, Levin recognized and liked the manners of a womanof the great world, always self-possessed and natural.

　　"I am delighted, delighted," she repeated, and on her lips thesesimple words took for Levin's ears a special significance. "Ihave known you and liked you for a long while, both from yourfriendship with Stiva and for your wife's sake.... I knew herfor a very short time, but she left on me the impression of anexquisite flower, simply a flower. And to think she will soon bea mother!"

　　She spoke easily and without haste, looking now and then fromLevin to her brother, and Levin felt that the impression he wasmaking was good, and he felt immediately at home, simple andhappy with her, as though he had known her from childhood.

　　"Ivan Petrovitch and I settled in Alexey's study," she said inanswer to Stepan Arkadyevitch's question whether he might smoke,"just so as to be able to smoke"--and glancing at Levin, insteadof asking whether he would smoke, she pulled closer atortoise-shell cigar-case and took a cigarette.

　　"How are you feeling today?" her brother asked her.

　　"Oh, nothing. Nerves, as usual."

　　"Yes, isn't it extraordinarily fine?" said Stepan Arkadyevitch,noticing that Levin was scrutinizing the picture.

　　"I have never seen a better portrait."

　　"And extraordinarily like, isn't it?" said Vorkuev.

　　Levin looked from the portrait to the original. A peculiarbrilliance lighted up Anna's face when she felt his eyes on her.Levin flushed, and to cover his confusion would have askedwhether she had seen Darya Alexandrovna lately; but at thatmoment Anna spoke. "We were just talking, Ivan Petrovitch and I,of Vashtchenkov's last pictures. Have you seen them?"

　　"Yes, I have seen them," answered Levin.

　　"But, I beg your pardon, I interrupted you...you were saying?..."

　　Levin asked if she had seen Dolly lately.

　　"She was here yesterday. She was very indignant with the highschool people on Grisha's account. The Latin teacher, it seems,had been unfair to him."

　　"Yes, I have seen his pictures. I didn't care for them verymuch," Levin went back to the subject she had started.

　　Levin talked now not at all with that purely businesslikeattitude to the subject with which he had been talking all themorning. Every word in his conversation with her had a specialsignificance. And talking to her was pleasant; still pleasanterit was to listen to her.

　　Anna talked not merely naturally and cleverly, but cleverly andcarelessly, attaching no value to her own ideas and giving greatweight to the ideas of the person she was talking to.

　　The conversation turned on the new movement in art, on the newillustrations of the Bible by a French artist. Vorkuev attackedthe artist for a realism carried to the point of coarseness.

　　Levin said that the French had carried conventionality furtherthan anyone, and that consequently they see a great merit in thereturn to realism. In the fact of not lying they see poetry.

　　Never had anything clever said by Levin given him so muchpleasure as this remark. Anna's face lighted up at once, as atonce she appreciated the thought. She laughed.

　　"I laugh," she said, "as one laughs when one sees a very trueportrait. What you said so perfectly hits off French art now,painting and literature too, indeed--Zola, Daudet. But perhapsit is always so, that men form their conceptions from fictitious,conventional types, and then--all the combinaisons made--theyare tired of the fictitious figures and begin to invent morenatural, true figures."

　　"That's perfectly true," said Vorknev.

　　"So you've been at the club?" she said to her brother.

　　"Yes, yes, this is a woman!" Levin thought, forgetting himselfand staring persistently at her lovely, mobile face, which atthat moment was all at once completely transformed. Levin didnot hear what she was talking of as she leaned over to herbrother, but he was struck by the change of her expression. Herface--so handsome a moment before in its repose--suddenly wore alook of strange curiosity, anger, and pride. But this lastedonly an instant. She dropped her eyelids, as though recollectingsomething.

　　"Oh, well, but that's of no interest to anyone," she said, andshe turned to the English girl.

　　"Please order the tea in the drawing room," she said in English.

　　The girl got up and went out.

　　"Well, how did she get through her examination?" asked StepanArkadyevitch.

　　"Splendidly! She's a very gifted child and a sweet character."

　　"It will end in your loving her more than your own."

　　"There a man speaks. In love there's no more nor less. I lovemy daughter with one love, and her with another."

　　"I was just telling Anna Arkadyevna," said Vorkuev, "that if shewere to put a hundredth part of the energy she devotes to thisEnglish girl to the public question of the education of Russianchildren, she would be doing a great and useful work."

　　"Yes, but I can't help it; I couldn't do it. Count AlexeyKirillovitch urged me very much" (as she uttered the words CountAlexey Kirillovitch she glanced with appealing timidity at Levin,and he unconsciously responded with a respectful and reassuringlook); "he urged me to take up the school in the village. Ivisited it several times. The children were very nice, but Icould not feel drawn to the work. You speak of energy. Energyrests upon love; and come as it will, there's no forcing it. Itook to this child--I could not myself say why."

　　And she glanced again at Levin. And her smile and her glance--all told him that it was to him only she was addressing herwords, valuing his good opinion, and at the same time surebeforehand that they understood each other.

　　"I quite understand that," Levin answered. "It's impossible togive one's heart to a school or such institutions in general, andI believe that's just why philanthropic institutions alwaysgive such poor results."

　　she was silent for a while, then she smiled.

　　"Yes, yes," she agreed; "I never could. Je n'ai pas le coeurassez large to love a whole asylum of horrid little girls. Celane m'a jamais reussi. There are so many women who have madethemselves une position sociale in that way. And now more thanever," she said with a mournful, confiding expression, ostensiblyaddressing her brother, but unmistakably intending her words onlyfor Levin, "now when I have such need of some occupation, Icannot." And suddenly frowning (Levin saw that she was frowningat herself for talking about herself) she changed the subject."I know about you," she said to Levin; "that you're not apublic-spirited citizen, and I have defended you to the best ofmy ability."

　　"How have you defended me?"

　　"Oh, according to the attacks made on you. But won't you havesome tea?" She rose and took up a book bound in morocco.

　　"Give it to me, Anna Arkadyevna," said Vorkuev, indicating thebook. "It's well worth taking up."

　　"Oh, no, it's all so sketchy."

　　"I told him about it," Stepan Arkadyevitch said to his sister,nodding at Levin.

　　"You shouldn't have. My writing is something after the fashionof those little baskets and carving which Liza Mertsalova used tosell me from the prisons. She had the direction of the prisondepartment in that society," she turned to Levin; "and they weremiracles of patience, the work of those poor wretches."

　　And Levin saw a new trait in this woman, who attracted him soextraordinarily. Besides wit, grace, and beauty, she had truth.She had no wish to hide from him all the bitterness of herposition. As she said that she sighed, and her face suddenlytaking a hard expression, looked as it were turned to stone.With that expression on her face she was more beautiful thanever; but the expression was new; it was utterly unlike thatexpression, radiant with happiness and creating happiness, whichhad been caught by the painter in her portrait. Levin lookedmore than once at the portrait and at her figure, as taking herbrother's arm she walked with him to the high doors and he feltfor her a tenderness and pity at which he wondered himself.

　　She asked Levin and Vorkuev to go into the drawing room, whileshe stayed behind to say a few words to her brother. "About herdivorce, about Vronsky, and what he's doing at the club, aboutme?" wondered Levin. And he was so keenly interested by thequestion of what she was saying to Stepan Arkadyevitch, that hescarcely heard what Vorkuev was telling him of the qualities ofthe story for children Anna Arkadyevna had written.

　　At tea the same pleasant sort of talk, full of interestingmatter, continued. There was not a single instant when a subjectfor conversation was to seek; on the contrary, it was felt thatone had hardly time to say what one had to say, and eagerly heldback to hear what the others were saying. And all that was said,not only by her, but by Vorkuev and Stepan Arkadyevitch--all, soit seemed to Levin, gained peculiar significance from herappreciation and her criticism. While he followed thisinteresting conversation, Levin was all the time admiring her--her beauty, her intelligence, her culture, and at the same timeher directness and genuine depth of feeling. He listened andtalked, and all the while he was thinking of her inner life,trying to divine her feelings. And though he had judged her soseverely hitherto, now by some strange chain of reasoning he wasjustifying her and was also sorry for her, and afraid thatVronsky did not fully understand her. At eleven o'clock, whenStepan Arkadyevitch got up to go (Vorkuev had left earlier), itseemed to Levin that he had only just come. Regretfully Levintoo rose.

　　"Good-bye," she said, holding his hand and glancing into his facewith a winning look. "I am very glad que la glace est rompue."

　　She dropped his hand, and half closed her eyes.

　　"Tell your wife that I love her as before, and that if she cannotpardon me my position, then my wish for her is that she may neverpardon it. To pardon it, one must go through what I have gonethrough, and may God spare her that."

　　"Certainly, yes, I will tell her..." Levin said, blushing.