Page 567 - ANNA KARENINA

Anna Karenina

forest, Dolly had begged him to look over the house and
order what repairs might be needed. Stepan Arkadyevitch,
like all unfaithful husbands indeed, was very solicitous for
his wife’s comfort, and he had himself looked over the

house, and given instructions about everything that he
considered necessary. What he considered necessary was to
cover all the furniture with cretonne, to put up curtains,
to weed the garden, to make a little bridge on the pond,
and to plant flowers. But he forgot many other essential
matters, the want of which greatly distressed Darya
Alexandrovna later on.
In spite of Stepan Arkadyevitch’s efforts to be an
attentive father and husband, he never could keep in his
mind that he had a wife and children. He had bachelor
tastes, and it was in accordance with them that he shaped
his life. On his return to Moscow he informed his wife
with pride that everything was ready, that the house
would be a little paradise, and that he advised her most
certainly to go. His wife’s staying away in the country was
very agreeable to Stepan Arkadyevitch from every point of
view: it did the children good, it decreased expenses, and
it left him more at liberty. Darya Alexandrovna regarded
staying in the country for the summer as essential for the
children, especially for the little girl, who had not

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