Page 150 - ANNA KARENINA

Anna Karenina

infidelity, I regarded it as impossible, and then— try to
imagine it—with such ideas, to find out suddenly all the
horror, all the loathsomeness.... You must try and
understand me. To be fully convinced of one’s happiness,

and all at once...’ continued Dolly, holding back her sobs,
‘to get a letter...his letter to his mistress, my governess.
No, it’s too awful!’ She hastily pulled out her handkerchief
and hid her face in it. ‘I can understand being carried away
by feeling,’ she went on after a brief silence, ‘but
deliberately, slyly deceiving me...and with whom?... To go
on being my husband together with her...it’s awful! You
can’t understand..’
‘Oh, yes, I understand! I understand! Dolly, dearest, I
do understand,’ said Anna, pressing her hand.
‘And do you imagine he realizes all the awfulness of my
position?’ Dolly resumed. ‘Not the slightest! He’s happy
and contented.’
‘Oh, no!’ Anna interposed quickly. ‘He’s to be pitied,
he’s weighed down by remorse..’
‘Is he capable of remorse?’ Dolly interrupted, gazing
intently into her sister-in-law’s face.
‘Yes. I know him. I could not look at him without
feeling sorry for him. We both know him. He’s good-
hearted, but he’s proud, and now he’s so humiliated. What

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