Page 147 - ANNA KARENINA

Anna Karenina

Catching a sound of skirts and light steps at the door,
she looked round, and her care-worn face unconsciously
expressed not gladness, but wonder. She got up and
embraced her sister-in-law.

‘What, here already!’ she said as she kissed her.
‘Dolly, how glad I am to see you!’
‘I am glad, too,’ said Dolly, faintly smiling, and trying
by the expression of Anna’s face to find out whether she
knew. ‘Most likely she knows,’ she thought, noticing the
sympathy in Anna’s face. ‘Well, come along, I’ll take you
to your room,’ she went on, trying to defer as long as
possible the moment of confidences.
‘Is this Grisha? Heavens, how he’s grown!’ said Anna;
and kissing him, never taking her eyes off Dolly, she stood
still and flushed a little. ‘No, please, let us stay here.’
She took off her kerchief and her hat, and catching it in
a lock of her black hair, which was a mass of curls, she
tossed her head and shook her hair down.
‘You are radiant with health and happiness!’ said Dolly,
almost with envy.
‘I?.... Yes,’ said Anna. ‘Merciful heavens, Tanya!
You’re the same age as my Seryozha,’ she added,
addressing the little girl as she ran in. She took her in her

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