Page 1009 - ANNA KARENINA

Anna Karenina

and when now she recalled all the past, she remembered
that one reflection. ‘I have inevitably made that man
wretched,’ she thought; ‘but I don’t want to profit by his
misery. I too am suffering, and shall suffer; I am losing

what I prized above everything—I am losing my good
name and my son. I have done wrong, and so I don’t want
happiness, I don’t want a divorce, and shall suffer from my
shame and the separation from my child.’ But, however
sincerely Anna had meant to suffer, she was not suffering.
Shame there was not. With the tact of which both had
such a large share, they had succeeded in avoiding Russian
ladies abroad, and so had never placed themselves in a false
position, and everywhere they had met people who
pretended that they perfectly understood their position, far
better indeed than they did themselves. Separation from
the son she loved—even that did not cause her anguish in
these early days. The baby girl—HIS child—was so sweet,
and had so won Anna’s heart, since she was all that was left
her, that Anna rarely thought of her son.
The desire for life, waxing stronger with recovered
health, was so intense, and the conditions of life were so
new and pleasant, that Anna felt unpardonably happy. The
more she got to know Vronsky, the more she loved him.
She loved him for himself, and for his love for her. Her

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