Page 259 - ANNA KARENINA

Anna Karenina

in the princess’s household and circle it was for some
reason accepted that this celebrated doctor alone had some
special knowledge, and that he alone could save Kitty.
After a careful examination and sounding of the

bewildered patient, dazed with shame, the celebrated
doctor, having scrupulously washed his hands, was
standing in the drawing room talking to the prince. The
prince frowned and coughed, listening to the doctor. As a
man who had seen something of life, and neither a fool
nor an invalid, he had no faith in medicine, and in his
heart was furious at the whole farce, specially as he was
perhaps the only one who fully comprehended the cause
of Kitty’s illness. ‘Conceited blockhead!’ he thought, as he
listened to the celebrated doctor’s chatter about his
daughter’s symptoms. The doctor was meantime with
difficulty restraining the expression of his contempt for this
old gentleman, and with difficulty condescending to the
level of his intelligence. He perceived that it was no good
talking to the old man, and that the principal person in the
house was the mother. Before her he decided to scatter his
pearls. At that instant the princess came into the drawing
room with the family doctor. The prince withdrew, trying
not to show how ridiculous he thought the whole

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