Page 318 - ANNA KARENINA

Anna Karenina

Chapter 9

Anna came in with hanging head, playing with the
tassels of her hood. Her face was brilliant and glowing; but
this glow was not one of brightness; it suggested the fearful
glow of a conflagration in the midst of a dark night. On
seeing her husband, Anna raised her head and smiled, as
though she had just waked up.
‘You’re not in bed? What a wonder!’ she said, letting
fall her hood, and without stopping, she went on into the
dressing room. ‘It’s late, Alexey Alexandrovitch,’ she said,
when she had gone through the doorway.
‘Anna, it’s necessary for me to have a talk with you.’
‘With me?’ she said, wonderingly. She came out from
behind the door of the dressing room, and looked at him.
‘Why, what is it? What about?’ she asked, sitting down.
‘Well, let’s talk, if it’s so necessary. But it would be better
to get to sleep.’
Anna said what came to her lips, and marveled, hearing
herself, at her own capacity for lying. How simple and
natural were her words, and how likely that she was
simply sleepy! She felt herself clad in an impenetrable

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