Part Three: Chapter 20

by Leo Tolstoy

　　Vronsky's life was particularly happy in that he had a code ofprinciples, which defined with unfailing certitude what he oughtand what he ought not to do. This code of principles coveredonly a very small circle of contingencies, but then theprinciples were never doubtful, and Vronsky, as he never wentoutside that circle, had never had a moment's hesitation aboutdoing what he ought to do. These principles laid down asinvariable rules: that one must pay a cardsharper, but need notpay a tailor; that one must never tell a lie to a man, but onemay to a woman; that one must never cheat anyone, but one may ahusband; that one must never pardon an insult, but one may giveone and so on. These principles were possibly not reasonable andnot good, but they were of unfailing certainty, and so long as headhered to them, Vronsky felt that his heart was at peace and hecould hold his head up. Only quite lately in regard to hisrelations with Anna, Vronsky had begun to feel that his code ofprinciples did not fully cover all possible contingencies, and toforesee in the future difficulties and perplexities for which hecould find no guiding clue.

　　His present relation to Anna and to her husband was to his mindclear and simple. It was clearly and precisely defined in thecode of principles by which he was guided.

　　she was an honorable woman who had bestowed her love upon him,and he loved her, and therefore she was in his eyes a woman whohad a right to the same, or even more, respect than a lawfulwife. He would have had his hand chopped off before he wouldhave allowed himself by a word, by a hint, to humiliate her, oreven to fall short of the fullest respect a woman could look for.

　　His attitude to society, too, was clear. Everyone might know,might suspect it, but no one might dare to speak of it. If anydid so, he was ready to force all who might speak to be silentand to respect the nonexistent honor of the woman he loved.

　　His attitude to the husband was the clearest of all. From themoment that Anna loved Vronsky, he had regarded his own rightover her as the one thing unassailable. Her husband was simply asuperfluous and tiresome person. No doubt he was in a pitiableposition, but how could that be helped? The one thing thehusband had a right to was to demand satisfaction with a weaponin his hand, and Vronsky was prepared for this at any minute.

　　But of late new inner relations had arisen between him and her,which frightened Vronsky by their indefiniteness. Only the daybefore she had told him that she was with child. And he feltthat this fact and what she expected of him called for somethingnot fully defined in that code of principles by which he hadhitherto steered his course in life. And he had been indeedcaught unawares, and at the first moment when she spoke to him ofher position, his heart had prompted him to beg her to leave herhusband. He had said that, but now thinking things over he sawclearly that it would be better to manage to avoid that; and atthe same time, as he told himself so, he was afraid whether itwas not wrong.

　　"If I told her to leave her husband, that must mean uniting herlife with mine; am I prepared for that? How can I take her awaynow, when I have no money? Supposing I could arrange.... Buthow can I take her away while I'm in the service? If I saythat I ought to be prepared to do it, that is, I ought to havethe money and to retire from the army."

　　And he grew thoughtful. The question whether to retire from theservice or not brought him to the other and perhaps the chiefthough hidden interest of his life, of which none knew but he.

　　Ambition was the old dream of his youth and childhood, a dreamwhich he did not confess even to himself, though it was sostrong that now this passion was even doing battle with his love.His first steps in the world and in the service had beensuccessful, but two years before he had made a great mistake.Anxious to show his independence and to advance, he had refused apost that had been offered him, hoping that this refusal wouldheighten his value; but it turned out that he had been too bold,and he was passed over. And having, whether he liked or not,taken up for himself the position of an independent man, hecarried it off with great tact and good sense, behaving as thoughhe bore no grudge against anyone, did not regard himself asinjured in any way, and cared for nothing but to be left alonesince he was enjoying himself. In reality he had ceased to enjoyhimself as long ago as the year before, when he went away toMoscow. He felt that this independent attitude of a man whomight have done anything, but cared to do nothing was alreadybeginning to pall, that many people were beginning to fancy thathe was not really capable of anything but being astraightforward, good-natured fellow. His connection with MadameKarenina, by creating so much sensation and attracting generalattention, had given him a fresh distinction which soothed hisgnawing worm of ambition for a while, but a week before that wormhad been roused up again with fresh force. The friend of hischildhood, a man of the same set, of the same coterie, hiscomrade in the Corps of Pages, Serpuhovskoy, who had left schoolwith him and had been his rival in class, in gymnastics, in theirscrapes and their dreams of glory, had come back a few daysbefore from Central Asia, where he had gained two steps up inrank, and an order rarely bestowed upon generals so young.

　　As soon as he arrived in Petersburg, people began to talk abouthim as a newly risen star of the first magnitude. A schoolfellowof Vronsky's and of the same age, he was a general and wasexpecting a command, which might have influence on the course ofpolitical events; while Vronsky, independent and brilliant andbeloved by a charming woman though he was, was simply a cavalrycaptain who was readily allowed to be as independent as ever heliked. "Of course I don't envy Serpuhovskoy and never couldenvy him; but his advancement shows me that one has only to watchone's opportunity, and the career of a man like me may be veryrapidly made. Three years ago he was in just the same positionas I am. If I retire, I burn my ships. If I remain in the army,I lose nothing. She said herself she did not wish to change herposition. And with her love I cannot feel envious ofSerpuhovskoy." And slowly twirling his mustaches, he got up fromthe table and walked about the room. His eyes shone particularlybrightly, and he felt in that confident, calm, and happy frame ofmind which always came after he had thoroughly faced hisposition. Everything was straight and clear, just as afterformer days of reckoning. He shaved, took a cold bath, dressedand went out.