Page 679 - ANNA KARENINA

Anna Karenina

‘Well, I on the contrary expected less—I’ll own
frankly. But I’m glad, very glad. I’m ambitious; that’s my
weakness, and I confess to it.’
‘Perhaps you wouldn’t confess to it if you hadn’t been

successful,’ said Vronsky.
‘I don’t suppose so,’ said Serpuhovskoy, smiling again.
‘I won’t say life wouldn’t be worth living without it, but it
would be dull. Of course I may be mistaken, but I fancy I
have a certain capacity for the line I’ve chosen, and that
power of any sort in my hands, if it is to be, will be better
than in the hands of a good many people I know,’ said
Serpuhovskoy, with beaming consciousness of success;
‘and so the nearer I get to it, the better pleased I am.’
‘Perhaps that is true for you, but not for everyone. I
used to think so too, but here I live and think life worth
living not only for that.’
‘There it’s out! here it comes!’ said Serpuhovskoy,
laughing. ‘Ever since I heard about you, about your
refusal, I began.... Of course, I approved of what you did.
But there are ways of doing everything. And I think your
action was good in itself, but you didn’t do it quite in the
way you ought to have done.’

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