Page 576 - ANNA KARENINA

Anna Karenina

and looked after the little ones. And the smallest, Lily, was
bewitching in her naive astonishment at everything, and it
was difficult not to smile when, after taking the sacrament,
she said in English, ‘Please, some more.’

On the way home the children felt that something
solemn had happened, and were very sedate.
Everything went happily at home too; but at lunch
Grisha began whistling, and, what was worse, was
disobedient to the English governess, and was forbidden to
have any tart. Darya Alexandrovna would not have let
things go so far on such a day had she been present; but
she had to support the English governess’s authority, and
she upheld her decision that Grisha should have no tart.
This rather spoiled the general good humor. Grisha cried,
declaring that Nikolinka had whistled too, and he was not
punished, and that he wasn’t crying for the tart—he didn’t
care—but at being unjustly treated. This was really too
tragic, and Darya Alexandrovna made up her mind to
persuade the English governess to forgive Grisha, and she
went to speak to her. But on the way, as she passed the
drawing room, she beheld a scene, filling her heart with
such pleasure that the tears came into her eyes, and she
forgave the delinquent herself.

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