Page 132 - ANNA KARENINA

Anna Karenina

the movement of policemen and attendants, and people
meeting the train. Through the frosty vapor could be seen
workmen in short sheepskins and soft felt boots crossing
the rails of the curving line. The hiss of the boiler could be

heard on the distant rails, and the rumble of something
heavy.
‘No,’ said Stepan Arkadyevitch, who felt a great
inclination to tell Vronsky of Levin’s intentions in regard
to Kitty. ‘No, you’ve not got a true impression of Levin.
He’s a very nervous man, and is sometimes out of humor,
it’s true, but then he is often very nice. He’s such a true,
honest nature, and a heart of gold. But yesterday there
were special reasons,’ pursued Stepan Arkadyevitch, with a
meaning smile, totally oblivious of the genuine sympathy
he had felt the day before for his friend, and feeling the
same sympathy now, only for Vronsky. ‘Yes, there were
reasons why he could not help being either particularly
happy or particularly unhappy.’
Vronsky stood still and asked directly: ‘How so? Do
you mean he made your belle-soeur an offer yesterday?’
‘Maybe,’ said Stepan Arkadyevitch. ‘I fancied
something of the sort yesterday. Yes, if he went away
early, and was out of humor too, it must mean it.... He’s
been so long in love, and I’m very sorry for him.’

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