Page 479 - ANNA KARENINA

Anna Karenina

‘No, she’s not my aunt. I call her mamma, but I am not
related to her; I was brought up by her,’ answered
Varenka, flushing a little again.
This was so simply said, and so sweet was the truthful

and candid expression of her face, that the princess saw
why Kitty had taken such a fancy to Varenka.
‘Well, and what’s this Levin going to do?’ asked the
princess.
‘He’s going away,’ answered Varenka.
At that instant Kitty came up from the spring beaming
with delight that her mother had become acquainted with
her unknown friend.
‘Well, see, Kitty, your intense desire to make friends
with Mademoiselle . . .’
‘Varenka,’ Varenka put in smiling, ‘that’s what
everyone calls me.’
Kitty blushed with pleasure, and slowly, without
speaking, pressed her new friend’s hand, which did not
respond to her pressure, but lay motionless in her hand.
The hand did not respond to her pressure, but the face of
Mademoiselle Varenka glowed with a soft, glad, though
rather mournful smile, that showed large but handsome
teeth.
‘I have long wished for this too,’ she said.

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