Page 244 - ANNA KARENINA

Anna Karenina

it would be better as she had done it, and Anna was so
furious that she felt ashamed when she thought of it
afterwards. To regain her serenity completely she went
into the nursery, and spent the whole evening with her

son, put him to bed herself, signed him with the cross, and
tucked him up. She was glad she had not gone out
anywhere, and had spent the evening so well. She felt so
light-hearted and serene, she saw so clearly that all that had
seemed to her so important on her railway journey was
only one of the common trivial incidents of fashionable
life, and that she had no reason to feel ashamed before
anyone else or before herself. Anna sat down at the hearth
with an English novel and waited for her husband. Exactly
at half-past nine she heard his ring, and he came into the
room.
‘Here you are at last!’ she observed, holding out her
hand to him.
He kissed her hand and sat down beside her.
‘Altogether then, I see your visit was a success,’ he said
to her.
‘Oh, yes,’ she said, and she began telling him about
everything from the beginning: her journey with Countess
Vronskaya, her arrival, the accident at the station. Then

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