Page 917 - ANNA KARENINA

Anna Karenina

and leaving orders for the doctor to be sent for, he went
to his office. On finishing his work, he returned home at
four. Going into the hall he saw a handsome groom, in a
braided livery and a bear fur cape, holding a white fur

cloak.
‘Who is here?’ asked Alexey Alexandrovitch.
‘Princess Elizaveta Federovna Tverskaya,’ the groom
answered, and it seemed to Alexey Alexandrovitch that he
grinned.
During all this difficult time Alexey Alexandrovitch had
noticed that his worldly acquaintances, especially women,
took a peculiar interest in him and his wife. All these
acquaintances he observed with difficulty concealing their
mirth at something; the same mirth that he had perceived
in the lawyer’s eyes, and just now in the eyes of this
groom. Everyone seemed, somehow, hugely delighted, as
though they had just been at a wedding. When they met
him, with ill-disguised enjoyment they inquired after his
wife’s health. The presence of Princess Tverskaya was
unpleasant to Alexey Alexandrovitch from the memories
associated with her, and also because he disliked her, and
he went straight to the nursery. In the day nursery
Seryozha, leaning on the table with his legs on a chair, was
drawing and chatting away merrily. The English

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