Page 1416 - ANNA KARENINA

Anna Karenina

Chapter 29

The narrow room, in which they were smoking and
taking refresh~ ments, was full of noblemen. The
excitement grew more intense, and every face betrayed
some uneasiness. The excitement was specially keen for
the leaders of each party, who knew every detail, and had
reckoned up every vote. They were the generals
organizing the approaching battle. The rest, like the rank
and file before an engagement, though they were getting
ready for the fight, sought for other distractions in the
interval. Some were lunching, standing at the bar, or
sitting at the table; others were walking up and down the
long room, smoking cigarettes, and talking with friends
whom they had not seen for a long while.
Levin did not care to eat, and he was not smoking; he
did not want to join his own friends, that is Sergey
Ivanovitch, Stepan Arkadyevitch, Sviazhsky and the rest,
because Vronsky in his equerry’s uniform was standing
with them in eager conversation. Levin had seen him
already at the meeting on the previous day, and he had
studiously avoided him, not caring to greet him. He went
to the window and sat down, scanning the groups, and

1415 of 1759