Page 1677 - ANNA KARENINA

Anna Karenina

away everything he could have used against himself. We
lived on the ground floor, but there was no reckoning on
anything. You know, of course, that he had shot himself
once already on her account,’ she said, and the old lady’s

eyelashes twitched at the recollection. ‘Yes, hers was the
fitting end for such a woman. Even the death she chose
was low and vulgar.’
‘It’s not for us to judge, countess,’ said Sergey
Ivanovitch; ‘but I can understand that it has been very
hard for you.’
‘Ah, don’t speak of it! I was staying on my estate, and
he was with me. A note was brought him. He wrote an
answer and sent it off. We hadn’t an idea that she was
close by at the station. I the evening I had only just gone
to my room, when my Mary told me a lady had thrown
herself under the train. Something seemed to strike me at
once. I knew it was she. The first thing I said was, he was
not to be told. But they’d told him already. His coachman
was there and saw it all. When I ran into his room, he was
beside himself—it was fearful to see him. He didn’t say a
word, but galloped off there. I don’t know to this day
what happened there, but he was brought back at death’s
door. I shouldn’t have known him. Prostration complete,
the doctor said. And that was followed almost by madness.

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