Darya Alexandrovna spent the summer with her children at

Pokrovskoe, at her sister Kitty Levin's. The house on her own

estate was quite in ruins, and Levin and his wife had persuaded

her to spend the summer with them. Stepan Arkadyevitch greatly

approved of the arrangement. He said he was very sorry his

official duties prevented him from spending the summer in the

country with his family, which would have been the greatest

happiness for him; and remaining in Moscow, he came down to the

country from time to time for a day or two. Besides the

Oblonskys, with all their children and their governess, the old

princess too came to stay that summer with the Levins, as she

considered it her duty to watch over her inexperienced daughter in

her _interesting condition_. Moreover, Varenka, Kitty's friend

abroad, kept her promise to come to Kitty when she was married,

and stayed with her friend. All of these were friends or

relations of Levin's wife. And though he liked them all, he

rather regretted his own Levin world and ways, which was

smothered by this influx of the "Shtcherbatsky element," as he

called it to himself. Of his own relations there stayed with him

only Sergey Ivanovitch, but he too was a man of the Koznishev and

not the Levin stamp, so that the Levin spirit was utterly

obliterated.

In the Levins' house, so long deserted, there were now so many

people that almost all the rooms were occupied, and almost every

day it happened that the old princess, sitting down to table,

counted them all over, and put the thirteenth grandson or

granddaughter at a separate table. And Kitty, with her careful

housekeeping, had no little trouble to get all the chickens,

turkeys, and geese, of which so many were needed to satisfy the

summer appetites of the visitors and children.

The whole family were sitting at dinner. Dolly's children, with

their governess and Varenka, were making plans for going to look

for mushrooms. Sergey Ivanovitch, who was looked up to by all

the party for his intellect and learning, with a respect that

almost amounted to awe, surprised everyone by joining in the

conversation about mushrooms.

"Take me with you. I am very fond of picking mushrooms," he

said, looking at Varenka; "I think it's a very nice occupation."

"Oh, we shall be delighted," answered Varenka, coloring a little.

Kitty exchanged meaningful glances with Dolly. The proposal of

the learned and intellectual Sergey Ivanovitch to go looking for

mushrooms with Varenka confirmed certain theories of Kitty's with

which her mind had been very busy of late. She made haste to

address some remark to her mother, so that her look should not be

noticed. After dinner Sergey Ivanovitch sat with his cup of

coffee at the drawing-room window, and while he took part in a

conversation he had begun with his brother, he watched the door

through which the children would start on the mushroom-picking

expedition. Levin was sitting in the window near his brother.




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