Page 316 - ANNA KARENINA

Anna Karenina

affair of her conscience, and falls under the head of
religion,’ he said to himself, feeling consolation in the
sense that he had found to which division of regulating
principles this new circumstance could be properly

referred.
‘And so,’ Alexey Alexandrovitch said to himself,
‘questions as to her feelings, and so on, are questions for
her conscience, with which I can have nothing to do. My
duty is clearly defined. As the head of the family, I am a
person bound in duty to guide her, and consequently, in
part the person responsible; I am bound to point out the
danger I perceive, to warn her, even to use my authority. I
ought to speak plainly to her.’ And everything that he
would say tonight to his wife took clear shape in Alexey
Alexandrovitch’s head. Thinking over what he would say,
he somewhat regretted that he should have to use his time
and mental powers for domestic consumption, with so
little to show for it, but, in spite of that, the form and
contents of the speech before him shaped itself as clearly
and distinctly in his head as a ministerial report.
‘I must say and express fully the following points: first,
exposition of the value to be attached to public opinion
and to decorum; secondly, exposition of religious
significance of marriage; thirdly, if need be, reference to

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