Anna Karenina - Part 7

She said a few words to him, even smiled serenely at his joke

about the elections, which he called "our parliament." (She had

to smile to show she saw the joke.) But she turned away

immediately to Princess Marya Borissovna, and did not once glance

at him till he got up to go; then she looked at him, but

evidently only because it would be uncivil not to look at a man

when he is saying good-bye.

She was grateful to her father for saying nothing to her about

their meeting Vronsky, but she saw by his special warmth to her

after the visit during their usual walk that he was pleased with

her. She was pleased with herself. She had not expected she

would have had the power, while keeping somewhere in the bottom

of her heart all the memories of her old feeling for Vronsky, not

only to seem but to be perfectly indifferent and composed with

him.

Levin flushed a great deal more than she when she told him she

had met Vronsky at Princess Marya Borissovna's. It was very hard

for her to tell him this, but still harder to go on speaking of

the details of the meeting, as he did not question her, but

simply gazed at her with a frown.

"I am very sorry you weren't there," she said. "Not that you

weren't in the room...I couldn't have been so natural in your

presence...I am blushing now much more, much, much more," she

said, blushing till the tears came into her eyes. "But that you

couldn't see through a crack."

The truthful eyes told Levin that she was satisfied with herself,

and in spite of her blushing he was quickly reassured and began

questioning her, which was all she wanted. When he had heard

everything, even to the detail that for the first second she

could not help flushing, but that afterwards she was just as

direct and as much at her ease as with any chance acquaintance,

Levin was quite happy again and said he was glad of it, and would

not now behave as stupidly as he had done at the election, but

would try the first time he met Vronsky to be as friendly as

possible.

"It's so wretched to feel that there's a man almost an enemy whom

it's painful to meet," said Levin. "I'm very, very glad."