Page 1430 - ANNA KARENINA

Anna Karenina

of how worried the marshal was, and how splendid the
discussions had been. In one group Levin heard his
brother’s praises. One lady was telling a lawyer:
‘How glad I am I heard Koznishev! It’s worth losing

one’s dinner. He’s exquisite! So clear and distinct all of it!
There’s not one of you in the law courts that speaks like
that. The only one is Meidel, and he’s not so eloquent by
a long way.’
Finding a free place, Levin leaned over the balustrade
and began looking and listening.
All the noblemen were sitting railed off behind barriers
according to their districts. In the middle of the room
stood a man in a uniform, who shouted in a loud, high
voice:
‘As a candidate for the marshalship of the nobility of
the province we call upon staff-captain Yevgeney
Ivanovitch Apuhtin!’ A dead silence followed, and then a
weak old voice was heard: ‘Declined!’
‘We call upon the privy councilor Pyotr Petrovitch
Bol,’ the voice began again.
‘Declined!’ a high boyish voice replied.
Again it began, and again ‘Declined.’ And so it went on
for about an hour. Levin, with his elbows on the
balustrade, looked and listened. At first he wondered and

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