Page 947 - ANNA KARENINA

Anna Karenina

into a run, he went into her room. And without
considering, without noticing whether there was anyone
in the room or not, he flung his arms round her, and
began to cover her face, her hands, her neck with kisses.

Anna had been preparing herself for this meeting, had
thought what she would say to him, but she did not
succeed in saying anything of it; his passion mastered her.
She tried to calm him, to calm herself, but it was too late.
His feeling infected her. Her lips trembled so that for a
long while she could say nothing.
‘Yes, you have conquered me, and I am yours,’ she said
at last, pressing his hands to her bosom.
‘So it had to be,’ he said. ‘So long as we live, it must be
so. I know it now.’
‘That’s true,’ she said, getting whiter and whiter, and
embracing his head. ‘Still there is something terrible in it
after all that has happened.’
‘It will all pass, it will all pass; we shall be so happy.
Our love, if it could be stronger, will be strengthened by
there being something terrible in it,’ he said, lifting his
head and parting his strong teeth in a smile.
And she could not but respond with a smile—not to his
words, but to the love in his eyes. She took his hand and
stroked her chilled cheeks and cropped head with it.

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