Page 1327 - ANNA KARENINA

Anna Karenina

Chapter 18

Anna looked at Dolly’s thin, care-worn face, with its
wrinkles filled with dust from the road, and she was on the
point of saying what she was thinking, that is, that Dolly
had got thinner. But, conscious that she herself had grown
handsomer, and that Dolly’s eyes were telling her so, she
sighed and began to speak about herself.
‘You are looking at me,’ she said, ‘and wondering how
I can be happy in my position? Well! it’s shameful to
confess, but I... I’m inexcusably happy. Something magical
has happened to me, like a dream, when you’re
frightened, panic-stricken, and all of a sudden you wake
up and all the horrors are no more. I have waked up. I
have lived through the misery, the dread, and now for a
long while past, especially since we’ve been here, I’ve
been so happy!...’ she said, with a timid smile of inquiry
looking at Dolly.
‘How glad I am!’ said Dolly smiling, involuntarily
speaking more coldly than she wanted to. ‘I’m very glad
for you. Why haven’t you written to me?’
‘Why?... Because I hadn’t the courage.... You forget
my position..’

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