Page 590 - ANNA KARENINA

Anna Karenina

‘Well, Darya Alexandrovna, you must excuse me,’ he
said, getting up. ‘Good-bye, Darya Alexandrovna, till we
meet again.’
‘No, wait a minute,’ she said, clutching him by the

sleeve. ‘Wait a minute, sit down.’
‘Please, please, don’t let us talk of this,’ he said, sitting
down, and at the same time feeling rise up and stir within
his heart a hope he had believed to be buried.
‘If I did not like you,’ she said, and tears came into her
eyes; ‘if I did not know you, as I do know you . . .’
The feeling that had seemed dead revived more and
more, rose up and took possession of Levin’s heart.
‘Yes, I understand it all now,’ said Darya Alexandrovna.
‘You can’t understand it; for you men, who are free and
make your own choice, it’s always clear whom you love.
But a girl’s in a position of suspense, with all a woman’s or
maiden’s modesty, a girl who sees you men from afar, who
takes everything on trust,— a girl may have, and often has,
such a feeling that she cannot tell what to say.’
‘Yes, if the heart does not speak..’
‘No, the heart does speak; but just consider: you men
have views about a girl, you come to the house, you make
friends, you criticize, you wait to see if you have found

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