Page 378 - ANNA KARENINA

Anna Karenina

Kostya, I’ll tell you the truth,’ he went on, leaning his
elbow on the table, and propping on his hand his
handsome ruddy face, in which his moist, good-natured,
sleepy eyes shone like stars. ‘It’s your own fault. You took

fright at the sight of your rival. But, as I told you at the
time, I couldn’t say which had the better chance. Why
didn’t you fight it out? I told you at the time that....’ He
yawned inwardly, without opening his mouth.
‘Does he know, or doesn’t he, that I did make an
offer?’ Levin wondered, gazing at him. ‘Yes, there’s
something humbugging, diplomatic in his face,’ and
feeling he was blushing, he looked Stepan Arkadyevitch
straight in the face without speaking.
‘If there was anything on her side at the time, it was
nothing but a superficial attraction,’ pursued Oblonsky.
‘His being such a perfect aristocrat, don’t you know, and
his future position in society, had an influence not with
her, but with her mother.’
Levin scowled. The humiliation of his rejection stung
him to the heart, as though it were a fresh wound he had
only just received. But he was at home, and the walls of
home are a support.
‘Stay, stay,’ he began, interrupting Oblonsky. ‘You talk
of his being an aristocrat. But allow me to ask what it

377 of 1759