Page 763 - ANNA KARENINA

Anna Karenina

‘Oh, she was a horrid woman! She caused me all sorts
of worries.’ But he did not say what the annoyances were.
He could not say that he had cast off Marya Nikolaevna
because the tea was weak, and, above all, because she

would look after him, as though he were an invalid.
‘Besides, I want to turn over a new leaf completely
now. I’ve done silly things, of course, like everyone else,
but money’s the last consideration; I don’t regret it. So
long as there’s health, and my health, thank God, is quite
restored.’
Levin listened and racked his brains, but could think of
nothing to say. Nikolay probably felt the same; he began
questioning his brother about his affairs; and Levin was
glad to talk about himself, because then he could speak
without hypocrisy. He told his brother of his plans and his
doings.
His brother listened, but evidently he was not
interested by it.
These two men were so akin, so near each other, that
the slightest gesture, the tone of voice, told both more
than could be said in words.
Both of them now had only one thought—the illness
of Nikolay and the nearness of his death—which stifled all
else. But neither of them dared to speak of it, and so

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