Page 100 - ANNA KARENINA

Anna Karenina

the princess was more uneasy over Kitty than she had been
over her elder sisters.
Now she was afraid that Vronsky might confine himself
to simply flirting with her daughter. She saw that her

daughter was in love with him, but tried to comfort
herself with the thought that he was an honorable man,
and would not do this. But at the same time she knew
how easy it is, with the freedom of manners of today, to
turn a girl’s head, and how lightly men generally regard
such a crime. The week before, Kitty had told her mother
of a conversation she had with Vronsky during a mazurka.
This conversation had partly reassured the princess; but
perfectly at ease she could not be. Vronsky had told Kitty
that both he and his brother were so used to obeying their
mother that they never made up their minds to any
important undertaking without consulting her. ‘And just
now, I am impatiently awaiting my mother’s arrival from
Petersburg, as peculiarly fortunate,’ he told her.
Kitty had repeated this without attaching any
significance to the words. But her mother saw them in a
different light. She knew that the old lady was expected
from day to day, that she would be pleased at her son’s
choice, and she felt it strange that he should not make his
offer through fear of vexing his mother. However, she was

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