Page 1390 - ANNA KARENINA

Anna Karenina

Chapter 25

Vronsky and Anna spent the whole summer and part of
the winter in the country, living in just the same
condition, and still taking no steps to obtain a divorce. It
was an understood thing between them that they should
not go away anywhere; but both felt, the longer they lived
alone, especially in the autumn, without guests in the
house, that they could not stand this existence, and that
they would have to alter it.
Their life was apparently such that nothing better could
be desired. They had the fullest abundance of everything;
they had a child, and both had occupation. Anna devoted
just as much care to her appearance when they had no
visitors, and she did a great deal of reading, both of novels
and of what serious literature was in fashion. She ordered
all the books that were praised in the foreign papers and
reviews she received, and read them with that
concentrated attention which is only given to what is read
in seclusion. Moreover, every subject that was of interest
to Vronsky, she studied in books and special journals, so
that he often went straight to her with questions relating
to agriculture or architecture, sometimes even with

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