Page 686 - ANNA KARENINA

Anna Karenina

Chapter 22

It was six o’clock already, and so, in order to be there
quickly, and at the same time not to drive with his own
horses, known to everyone, Vronsky got into Yashvin’s
hired fly, and told the driver to drive as quickly as possible.
It was a roomy, old-fashioned fly, with seats for four. He
sat in one corner, stretched his legs out on the front seat,
and sank into meditation.
A vague sense of the order into which his affairs had
been brought, a vague recollection of the friendliness and
flattery of Serpuhovskoy, who had considered him a man
that was needed, and most of all, the anticipation of the
interview before him—all blended into a general, joyous
sense of life. This feeling was so strong that he could not
help smiling. He dropped his legs, crossed one leg over the
other knee, and taking it in his hand, felt the springy
muscle of the calf, where it had been grazed the day
before by his fall, and leaning back he drew several deep
breaths.
‘I’m happy, very happy!’ he said to himself. He had
often before had this sense of physical joy in his own
body, but he had never felt so fond of himself, of his own

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