Page 666 - ANNA KARENINA

Anna Karenina

scale of forty-five thousand a year, having only received
twenty thousand that year, found himself now in
difficulties. To get out of these difficulties, he could not
apply to his mother for money. Her last letter, which he

had received the day before, had particularly exasperated
him by the hints in it that she was quite ready to help him
to succeed in the world and in the army, but not to lead a
life which was a scandal to all good society. His mother’s
attempt to buy him stung him to the quick and made him
feel colder than ever to her. But he could not draw back
from the generous word when it was once uttered, even
though he felt now, vaguely foreseeing certain
eventualities in his intrigue with Madame Karenina, that
this generous word had been spoken thoughtlessly, and
that even though he were not married he might need all
the hundred thousand of income. But it was impossible to
draw back. He had only to recall his brother’s wife, to
remember how that sweet, delightful Varya sought, at
every convenient opportunity, to remind him that she
remembered his generosity and appreciated it, to grasp the
impossibility of taking back his gift. It was as impossible as
beating a woman, stealing, or lying. One thing only could
and ought to be done, and Vronsky determined upon it
without an instant’s hesitation: to borrow money from a

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