Page 1130 - ANNA KARENINA

Anna Karenina

‘I had not thought of that,’ said Alexey Alexandrovitch,
evidently agreeing.
Countess Lidia Ivanovna hid her face in her hands and
was silent. she was praying.

‘If you ask my advice,’ she said, having finished her
prayer and uncovered her face, ‘I do not advise you to do
this. Do you suppose I don’t see how you are suffering,
how this has torn open your wounds? But supposing that,
as always, you don’t think of yourself, what can it lead
to?—to fresh suffering for you, to torture for the child. If
there were a trace of humanity left in her, she ought not
to wish for it herself. No, I have no hesitation in saying I
advise not, and if you will intrust it to me, I will write to
her.’
And Alexey Alexandrovitch consented, and Countess
Lidia Ivanovna sent the following letter in French:
‘Dear Madame,
‘To be reminded of you might have results for your son
in leading to questions on his part which could not be
answered without implanting in the child’s soul a spirit of
censure towards what should be for him sacred, and
therefore I beg you to interpret your husband’s refusal in
the spirit of Christian love. I pray to Almighty God to
have mercy on you.

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