Page 786 - ANNA KARENINA

Anna Karenina

his love was stronger, he could, if he had greatly wished it,
have torn that love out of his heart; but now, when as at
that moment it seemed to him he felt no love for her, he
knew that what bound him to her could not be broken.

‘Well, well, what was it you were going to say about
the prince? I have driven away the fiend,’ she added. The
fiend was the name they had given her jealousy. ‘What did
you begin to tell me about the prince? Why did you find
it so tiresome?’
‘Oh, it was intolerable!’ he said, trying to pick up the
thread of his interrupted thought. ‘He does not improve
on closer acquaintance. If you want him defined, here he
is: a prime, well-fed beast such as takes medals at the cattle
shows, and nothing more,’ he said, with a tone of vexation
that interested her.
‘No; how so?’ she replied. ‘He’s seen a great deal,
anyway; he’s cultured?’
‘It’s an utterly different culture—their culture. He’s
cultivated, one sees, simply to be able to despise culture, as
they despise everything but animal pleasures.’
‘But don’t you all care for these animal pleasures?’ she
said, and again he noticed a dark look in her eyes that
avoided him.
‘How is it you’re defending him?’ he said, smiling.

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