Page 804 - ANNA KARENINA

Anna Karenina

The lawyer’s gray eyes tried not to laugh, but they
were dancing with irrepressible glee, and Alexey
Alexandrovitch saw that it was not simply the delight of a
man who has just got a profitable job: there was triumph

and joy, there was a gleam like the malignant gleam he
saw in his wife’s eyes.
‘You desire my assistance in securing a divorce?’
‘Yes, precisely so; but I ought to warn you that I may
be wasting your time and attention. I have come simply to
consult you as a preliminary step. I want a divorce, but the
form in which it is possible is of great consequence to me.
It is very possible that if that form does not correspond
with my requirements I may give up a legal divorce.’
‘Oh, that’s always the case,’ said the lawyer, ‘and that’s
always for you to decide.’
He let his eyes rest on Alexey Alexandrovitch’s feet,
feeling that he might offend his client by the sight of his
irrepressible amusement. He looked at a moth that flew
before his nose, and moved his hands, but did not catch it
from regard for Alexey Alexandrovitch’s position.
‘Though in their general features our laws on this
subject are known to me,’ pursued Alexey
Alexandrovitch, ‘I should be glad to have an idea of the
forms in which such things are done in practice.’

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